Celebrity

Kirsten Dunst, Jared Leto & More Celebs Perform Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License”

Jennifer Hudson, Kristen Stewart, and Jodie Comer add dramatic flair to the performance.

by Jake Viswanath
Kirsten Dunst and Jared Leto in W Magazine's "Lyrical Improv" video
YouTube / W Magazine

Olivia Rodrigo’s songs can even make A-list actors break down. Kirsten Dunst, Jared Leto, Jennifer Hudson, and Kristen Stewart are some of the stars who teamed up to cover Rodrigo’s breakout hit “drivers license” for the Feb. 22 installment of W magazine’s “Lyrical Improv” series, and every celeb had a unique way of channeling their teenage angst through the breakup anthem.

Stewart, Leto, and Passing star Ruth Negga stick to old-fashioned dramatic readings, somehow making Rodrigo’s lyrics sound even more devastating, while Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer, CODA star Emilia Jones, and Hamilton alum Leslie Odom Jr. decide to full-on belt the song and show off their vocal chops. Meanwhile, Dunst can’t stop laughing at the ridiculousness of her poetry-style reading, and Red Rocket star Simon Rex took a sharp left turn, giving a wacky rendition.

Tessa Thompson appeared to be the most riveted by Rodrigo’s words, even wanting to change one lyric to reflect her own feelings. “Oh, this would be the reverse for me. ‘She’s so much younger than me, she’s everything I’m insecure about.’ That’d be my version,” she tells the camera crew, laughing. Atlanta star Zazie Beetz, King Richard’s Saniyya Sidney, The Hand of God star Filippo Scotti, and Dunst’s The Power of the Dog co-star Kodi Smit-McPhee also make appearances.

Rodrigo has yet to react to their cover. Her song took the world by storm after it was released in January 2021, reaching No. 1 the U.S. for eight weeks, breaking Spotify records, getting quickly approved by Taylor Swift, and eventually becoming the most streamed song of 2021. Rodrigo released her debut album SOUR that May, officially making her a bonafide star. In November 2021, she received seven Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year, Best New Artist, and Record and Song of the Year for “drivers license.”

Now, Rodrigo is celebrating the success of her debut album by hitting the road on her sold-out Sour Tour in April, but fans who didn’t get tickets will still get to see her perform soon. Recently, she announced her new Disney+ concert film, Olivia Rodrigo: driving home 2 u, which follows the singer on a road trip from Salt Lake City, where she started writing SOUR while filming High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, to her home of Los Angeles.

Along the way in the doc, Rodrigo performs new arrangements of all 11 tracks from SOUR and unveils new behind-the-scenes footage from the album’s creation process.