Watch Surreal, Lena Dunham-Directed Bleachers Video for ‘Don’t Take the Money’
Jack Antonoff, the singer-guitarist behind Bleachers, plays the dumbfounded groom at his own backyard wedding to a woman he can’t communicate with in the new video for “Don’t Take the Money.” The video begins with the cavalier officiant, played by Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Search Party) asking Antonoff – in his decorous New Jersey backyard – whether he’s sure this a good idea (subtext: it’s not).
From there, “Don’t Take The Money” spirals from the mail-ordered bride cliche. Antonoff’s character finds out that his soon-to-be-betrothed is being sought by her Russian spy lover who hops over the thick hedges to the altar (punching Antonoff out in the process). The song is a single from Bleachers’ forthcoming album, Gone Now.
‘Girls creator and director Lena Dunham, who is also Antonoff’s real-life girlfriend, directed the video for “Money.” The scene matches the Eighties-pop inspired song’s jubilant tone with peculiarly spangled wedding guests, bedecked in vivid jewels and guests who are red mannequins, all shot through a hyper-colorful lens.
The Russian spy lovers twist is a comedic, good-natured nod to Dunham and Antonoff’s longtime support of equal marriage rights (the spy and bride are women). In 2015, Lena Dunham revealed on Ellen that she and boyfriend Jack Antonoff would not get married until same-sex couples could legally be married in the United States.