Meghan Trainor Is Ready For Her Close-Up

When I meet Meghan Trainor on the set of her new State Farm commercial in Kansas City, she’s surrounded by the usual suspects: her husband, Spy Kids star Daryl Sabara; her brother, Ryan; one of her two young sons; as well as her glam squad and team. On TikTok, they regularly appear as Trainor’s supporting cast — but today, they’re here to cheer her on from the green room.

The group’s easy camaraderie is apparent. “Are you going back for more doughnuts? Get it,” Trainor tells Ryan as he sneaks off in the middle of a conversation about football. The pair played together as elementary school kids, with Trainor playing center to her quarterback brother. It meant she had to snap the ball to him at the start of a play — perhaps more of a responsibility than she’d bargained for. “I just wanted to hang out with my brothers more, and this seemed like the easiest way I could get in there. I wanted to make him proud, but if I dropped that ball, I was dead to him.”

Luckily, Trainor, 31, didn’t need to be a sports pro for her playful new ad with State Farm. In the spot, the pop star is brought in to “train” NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes. Glammed up in a hot pink leather outfit and big hair, she sings and dances, using a leg brace like an accordion. From the jump, it’s apparent that she’s not quite the right “trainer” for the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback.

“It was like being in a dream,” Trainor says of filming the commercial. “I've watched State Farm commercials since I was a really young kid. So when I got the ask, my team knew it'd be a big deal. They were like, ‘make sure your husband's next to you on FaceTime.’”

While musicians appear in ads all the time, this one marks a meaningful step in a new direction for Trainor, who’s hoping to make a career pivot. “I tell everyone, ‘I'm gonna be an actress someday,’” she says. “Yep, I'm gonna do it.”

Below, Trainor opens up about motherhood, pop stardom, and her dreams for the future.

How’s your day been like so far, filming the commercial?

It was the best day ever. My outfit was a bit tight, and this hair itches and hurts, but it was awesome.

I really enjoy your social media presence — it’s a fun blend of TikTok trends and glimpses into your work and family life. There has been this industry trend of needing a song to go viral on TikTok. Now that it’s been a few years, do you think that’s still true?

Anything to get people to listen to your music is a win. When a song pops off on social media, I wake up, and I'm like, “Oh, is it Christmas morning? Is it my birthday? How did this happen?” It's really random. I did it with “Made You Look,” and I haven't even done it since. It's hard. I also have really old songs — like “Better When I'm Dancing,” that's randomly popping off right now. I sent it to my team, and I was like, “Guys, there's a new trend yet again to this old song that I was told once wasn’t good enough.”

That’s one of the cool things about TikTok and social media. It can help give new life to old songs.

They broke all the rules. It used to be, put out a song and that's it. I'm like, “Nah, this will peak in eight years. This will have a life of its own.” It gives me hope.

On the other side of your social media presence, you share a lot of your family life. I'm curious how you decide what to share as a celebrity.

My husband and I communicate about every single post, especially if it's with the kids. And anything I post, I run through my team because they're also my best friends. I'm like, “Yo, what caption should I do?”

Also, it's weird because I don't feel famous, and I don't think my kids or husband are famous, but then we go to Target, and fans say, “I saw [your son] Riley, and then I knew it was you.” I don't like that.

How has becoming a mother changed your life as a pop star?

It's the best, but it is weird, especially because I don't know a lot of people who do what I do and have babies. I would like to get more mom friends who do what I do, because it's weird doing a 12-hour day like this, and then wiping boogers.

We're talking about putting [Riley] in school. He's 4 now and gonna be in preschool. I'm like, “Yeah, but I'm gonna travel; I'm not gonna not see my kids.” And they're like, “Well, this will make him normal.” But I'm not normal. So I'm figuring it out as I go, and I have a lot of questions.

Have your kids watched Spy Kids yet?

Riley has seen it a couple of times, but I don't know if he registers what's happening, because he calls it “Baby Dada.” I bought all the toys that I could find on eBay, so they could have little figurines of [their dad].

Now that you’ve done this commercial, is an acting career something you have considered?

It is my new dream. I've already achieved a lot of my dreams that I didn't think were even possible, so I had to start over, make a whole new bucket list. We did it [with] management and family. We got together, and I said, “I want to book a major commercial … I want to be an actress in a movie. I want to be on TV.” And I got another part, which is great and I can't talk about it.

Do you want to do a musical, or something like that?

My dream is I'm in [a movie], and I wrote the song you hear at the end. I don't know if I could pull off a full musical. Everyone who meets me, like my new friends, they're like, “You need to be on Broadway.” No, I cannot sing eight days in a row twice a day.

To take you back a bit, you wrote a song for Sabrina Carpenter over 10 years ago, and it must be wild to see her success today. She was only 14 then. What do you remember about writing that song?

I didn't get to meet her, but she was my superstar. Ever since then, I thought she was amazing, and I was so grateful that she [recorded] my song, [“Can’t Blame A Girl For Trying”]. I was just starting out. I was 17-18, and they said we're gonna get this song to a Disney star. And I was like, “Yeah, right.” Then she did it, and it was my big break. Ever since, I've been so excited for her. It was always me and [radio personality] Elvis Duran gassing her up at Jingle Balls and stuff.

It's how I feel now about Zara Larsson. She really deserves her flowers. I don't know why she hasn't had her big moment in America yet, because the girl is so talented and so bomb.

Being a pop star, did you ever feel pressure to become a sex symbol?

Oh, no, I didn't. I think I came out very loud, all about my body [with the body positivity anthem, “All About That Bass”], and everyone was like, “Are you comfortable?” Everyone was pretty nice to me coming up in the industry. I wish I had more help with fashion sometimes.

Is there a fashion trend you’re loving right now?

Big hair. I love wigs. I'm on my own journey of style, and I will get invited to the Met Gala. That's on my bucket list.

I saw that you playfully changed the lyrics to “All About That Bass” recently during the performance.

To my new boobs! I wanted to sing that I got some new boobs, and I love them, and I thought it'd be funny.

You just wrapped up your tour last year. What’s next for you music-wise?

I started writing songs for other artists, and I'm back in the studio writing for myself. I write very fast. I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with sounds and trying to push myself. We got some bangers. I've been writing with my older brother, and he's like, “You are really good at this.” It's nice to hear that after 12 years of doing this. I still got something.

This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.