Over the past few months, Amanda Seyfried has taken over the position of “Young Actress Who Needs To Learn How to Not Sound Like Such a Snotty, Obnoxious Brat In Interviews”. It’s difficult, because Megan Fox fought hard for that mantle, and it pains me to think that Amanda did in two interviews what Megan Fox had to struggle with for years.
First, Amanda told Esquire, “I sacrificed six years in L. A. I did my job out here. I made the contacts and did the work I had to do. But I came here at eighteen. I’m out of here at twenty-four, and I feel lucky it wasn’t longer.” Because after six years of “sacrifice” in Los Angeles, Amanda is now a top-tier, award-winning actress who has the work to back up her attitude? Not so much. Then Amanda doubled down on the attitude, telling Vanity Fair that it’s difficult NOT to sign on to romantic comedies, “because they pay a lot of money. Sometimes, when you want to buy an apartment in Manhattan, you gotta do one or two. But in most cases you don’t need to be doing them—there are enough action flicks to keep you busy.” Because Amanda is a legend in her own mind.
Now, Amanda’s new interview with Stylist isn’t as bad as all that, but Amanda does throw in a bitchy comment or two. She’s talking about body image and her raw food diet, and she says about her slender figure: “I have to stay in shape because I’m an actress. It’s f**ked up and it’s twisted, but I wouldn’t get the roles otherwise. If I’d been bigger, I don’t think they would have cast me for Mamma Mia!” Ugh. Here’s more:
Amanda Seyfried has spoken about the grossness of her raw food diet, and now she says it’s just one of the difficult things she does to stay thin.
“I clearly like being fit, but it’s not thin without a hell of a lot of work – I run and I exercise a lot and then I eat,” she told Stylist. “The week of that [Esquire] interview I was on a raw food cleanse, which I do occasionally. I’m in my mid-20s and I know how to look after my body on my own. I’m not going to deny that I don’t think about it every day, it’s always on my mind.”
Staying body obsessed is just part of her job.
“I have to stay in shape because I’m an actress,” Seyfried said. “It’s f**ked up and it’s twisted, but I wouldn’t get the roles otherwise. If I’d been bigger, I don’t think they would have cast me for Mamma Mia!”
Seyfried also talked about her diet.
“If I have to diet, it’s salad with protein, salmon and broccoli, no dessert,” she said. “But what kind of life is that? So I work out a lot and I’m just pretty moderate about what I eat.”
[From Huffington Post]
On one side, I do agree with her – if she was heavier, she probably wouldn’t be on producers’ short-lists for go-to young actresses. It is unreasonable, it is f-cked up, and it does speak to the larger issues of what kind of body images Hollywood is promoting. On the other side, whatever happened to talent? Whatever happened to professionalism? Whatever happened to not insulting the people who will hire you? I know I sound naïve, but I still believe that talent plays a role in what actresses get what parts, and I still believe that acting like a professional will get you further in whatever career you choose. Unless Amanda has multiple stories about producers telling her that she was too heavy, I think she should shut her pie hole. Because I think her body image stuff is just that – her own neurotic bullsh-t. Beyond that, if she feels so strongly about how Hollywood is “f-cked up and twisted,” why participate in it? It would be one thing if she was saying this as she refused to give in to Hollywood’s demands – but she’s “adhering” to them (in her own mind), and thus, she’s a co-conspirator.
I think maybe you’re being a lil too hard on her. I appreciate that she’s being honest about not liking her diet, but that sadly it’s a necessity in the industry–we all know that talent isn’t enough. I’m so tired of grossly thin actresses who eat like, one celery stick a day saying, “I don’t diet! I just have good genes!” It’s refreshing to hear a young actress admitting that she has to work hard at it just like the rest of us.
I find her refreshingly honest and I really appreciate that she is admitting its not all a bed of roses. I don’t think this is spoilt behaviour at all, I really like her & agree with the poster above that your opinion is a little harsh.
‘Unless Amanda has multiple stories about producers telling her that she was too heavy, I think she should shut her pie hole.’
I think her speaking up about it now is correct others talk about ‘never’ working out, eating whatever they want. it’s all bull. i love that she’s talking about this and think she’s more well rounded in terms of talent than 90% of the actors her age (those crappy disney actors, kristen stewart? come on!) -no one else talks about this. SOO many women at events look disgusting-kate hudson looks like a skeleton, like a 12 year old boy and not just because she has no boobs-no one says anything until you look like tori spelling, but just 2 or 3 pounds more and ‘you look great.’
all actors have to ‘look the part’ they’re auditioning for to some degree, but men can be overweight and considered attractive, women can’t look human at all and be considered attractive.
maybe she would be nicer if she wasn’t dieting so strictly.
Yes, I accept that I might be too hard on her just because I already think she’s a brat. I do partially agree with her.
She’s simply stating the reality of Hollywood and the system. Yes talent does get you in the door, but looks also play a big part of it and maintaining that look helps keep you there. She and other actresses need both and I believe she has both. She’s just being honest that it takes work for her to keep her figure. Unlike some who say they never work out etc but are always thin magically.
She sounds grounded and realistic about the industry she works in and the ridiculous pressures actors come under to present a certain type of body shape.
I agree – you are being a bit too harsh here. I find it refreshing that she talks about how much she sacrifices to stay very thin for the industry. It is disheartening, as a female, when other young Hollywood things insist that they don’t diet or exercise, that they eat what they want and hey – presto – they are magically super skinny. No one believes that, but it makes you feel like a failure if you work hard to maintain a healthy weight. I remember Julianne Moore saying in an interview she she struggles to keep thin – that she is constantly hungry. She is a well respected actor, one whom no one would consider calling unprofessional for nay-saying the industry’s fixation of female actor’s weight. So there.
I think it is wonderful that she is not making the rest of us feel bad by pretending that she is naturally that thin. Many models/actresses lie and claim a fast metabolism, when in reality it is extreme dieting. It is wonderful to hear someone admit the truth about what it takes for most adult women to be that thin.
I don’t understand your need to hate her… she’s pretty honest and real… she’s not saying anything special…
I dunno…
I think a few things she’s said in the past, especially regarding her employment with Big Love, were a bit questionable and started to cross the line of biting the hand that feeds you.
But I disagree that’s what she’s doing here. I think she’s just being honest about the body images stuff. And she may not be award winning, but PLEASE don’t compare her to Megan Fox! Amanda is a decent actress – maybe she oversells herself a bit, but she must be doing something right because she’s getting good roles, ones that don’t involve costarring with a Transformer.
She sounds honest, not snotty, to me. LA always sounded like the bitchiest sorority house you can imagine. I don’t blame her for wanting to get done establishing her career and get the hell out.
And besides, good job for not falling into the “You have to be this pretty person 24/7 and here is what to say in your interview, and here is whose ass you should kiss in said interview. Oh, and vegetarianism is IN, so be all happy about your raw food diet.”
I like this kid, even if she does look like an elf.
“Those darn kids should just be happy they have jobs. When I was their age, I had to walk through 5 miles of snow to get to work.”
I love that dog.
And she’s really just pointing out the obvious but I can’t fault her for that. But it IS annoying and redundant anytime I hear a celebrity call out Hollywood for this kind of thing, only to have them inevitably play along with it.
I do not think what she said is any different than when Julianne Moore stated that she basically lived off of breakfast bars. I like her and seriously LA does suck.
I absolutely agree with the above posters….She’s definitely a grounded and honest girl..
We hate on the fakes like Heidi Montag, and we hate on the genuine and honest ones like Amanda Seyfried…I’ve honestly wondered about her and her figure as (I’m pretty sure) Season 1 of big love she seemed a LITTLE bit fleshier than most young Hollywood actresses…Just a wee tummy is all…Then in second season she was tres slim, like now.
Seems to me like celebrities are damned if they do and damned if they don’t…
I have to agree with all the other commenters here: She just sounds honest and maybe …exhausted would be the right word. I read an interview with her in a intellectual german newspaper “Die Sueddeutsche” last weekend and there she came across as hardworking and well aware of what she does and what Hollywood is. And as we are bitching about it on this site, we know she is at least not completely wrong.
And if you want to be an actress and are talented -as she is according to the critics- then you have no other choice, I suppose. At least not in the U.S.
Kaiser,
I think she is little snotty as well.
Her take is not all that “refreshing”
there are actresses that aren’t doing any raw food dieting that get roles( Kate Winslet,Queen Latifa, Penelope Cruz just to name a few)
Talent is what gets you roles,
she needs to face the fact that she is going to have to become a better actress if she wants to keep getting roles. Skinny or not she needs to grow up.
Be as hard as you want:)
I remember reading an interview with Kate Hudson, and she talked about how she would be riding her exercycle and crying because she only had something ridiculous like 3 weeks to lose the 70 pounds she gained while pregnant before filming started on The Skeleton Key. In any other industry, that would be discriminatory and unacceptable. It should be in the entertainment industry as well.
And Amanda still seems snotty to me.
I think you are being too hard on her. I don’t think she is a brat, she is just being honest.
I like Amanda, she seems kinda normal and she is not that bad of an actress.
i have to agree with kaiser. in an economy where families can’t put food on their table for her to say, “it’s difficult NOT to sign on to romantic comedies, because they pay a lot of money. sometimes, when you want to buy an apartment in Manhattan, you gotta do one or two” is gross. you should be grateful you are paid that kind of $ to afford to buy a nyc apt at age 24. i do think she’s talented but she needs to stop talking.
She is the poor man’s Goopy Paltrow.
OK, she may have attitude issues, but comparing her to Fox is a stretch. She has never compared anyone to Napoleon or Hitler or made up some bullsh*t lesbian affair. So I think it’s safe to say that Seyfried has a few IQ points on Fox.
That dog is beautiful, so cute.
And why are action films deemed better than romantic comedies? I love romantic comedies and know some of them are crap, but action films, IMHO can be just as brainless and very formulaic.
i like her, but she has been sounding a little snotty. but she’s also grounded. and she’s a hell of a lot smarter than megan fox, who accuses her director of being a nazi (i think that’s what she called him). amanda’s just being a little snotty. whatever.
I don’t see much wrong with anything she’s saying.
Do I think she is a bit pompous? Yes.
Would I want to be her friend? No, she seems a little too full of herself & arrogant for me.
BUT, the girl is being real in all of her interviews. She is being honest, speaking her mind and not worrying about the consequences of the same. I appreciate and respect that. Kaiser, IMHO, you are being too far too harsh in your posts about her.
Scotchy:
“there are actresses that aren’t doing any raw food dieting that get roles( Kate Winslet,Queen Latifa, Penelope Cruz just to name a few)”
And we know these ladies don’t raw-food-diet or binge-and-purge because… why exactly? Okay, Queen Latifah obviously isn’t, but I guarantee you, Winslet and Cruz and the rest of them are all body-conscious, all exercise, all highly aware of how their figures will affect their careers. Maybe the methods differ but I’d bet money they all work damn hard to stay slim-to-skinny, however much bullcrap they put out about “oh running after two kids keeps me skinny” (why is it all the mothers of young children I know personally tend to put ON weight? Is there something in the water in LA?)
I think Amanda just comes across as honest. There are only ever a few plus-size diva roles or fat-best-friend roles around – do you think they even look at girls who are over a size 4 for roles like the ones Amanda’s played? Talent be damned. If it was all about talent, nobody would be worrying about Gabby Sidibe’s future OR her size.
I wish it wasn’t like that and I hope it changes, and part of that change might be in successful young actresses being outspoken, like Amanda, about how much work and concentration it takes to stay skinny. If nothing else, at least normal girls – those ones who eat healthily and yet aren’t anything like as skinny as Hollywood actresses and think they’re abnormal as a consequence – can read this stuff and go, “Jesus, is THAT how they manage it? Raw food and constant exercise? Screw that, gimme a sandwich.”
I always find it funny how many people will let the things she says slide. I think it has to do with how sweet she looks and the fact that out of all the Mean Girls she was the last one people thought would have a booming career.
What annoys me most about her is how people react to her. Example, people will jump to bash Kristen Stewart b/c she doesn’t play along with the idea of what a starlet is, yet they give Amanda an out b/c she LOOKS sweet, Dress up and SMILES. WTF
Pick that Prada off that floor!!!
I like that she doesn’t seem to like her diet & exercise routine. I’ve been on a grain & dairy-free diet & working out 5/6 days a week getting ready for a beach vacation this summer, so I can appreciate getting fed up the dessert-free life.
But she lost me with “sometimes when you want to buy an apartment in Manhattan”…as if she’s found herself in this position more than once.
She bugs me so I’m totally on your side Kaiser. Her comments to me come off as a whiny brat. I do agree with her on the body image thing but it’s the way she’s expressing herself that annoys.
Her “sacrifice in LA” thing bugs me. Sacrifice? Really? It’s not freaking Iraq. It’s called working at your career. She could have built her career in NY if she hated LA so much. Plenty of great actors got their start in NY. (I’d be saying this if the cities were reversed too).
“Because Amanda is a legend in her own mind.”
That’s what I think bugs me about her. She comes across as one of those people who think thy’re bigger than they are.
P.S. That dog is gorgeous!
Sounds to me like she’s being honest. Not always a good thing in her profession though. It’s true, to get the parts, you first have to physically fit a certain mold. But to stay relevant and make the A-list, you need a certain amount of talent and brains too. Hm, is our little Amanda up to the task?
“Queen Latifah obviously isn’t, but I guarantee you, Winslet and Cruz and the rest of them are all body-conscious, all exercise, all highly aware of how their figures will affect their careers.”
Just a side note – we saw Penelope Cruz having lunch with Javier Bardem (sp) in a cafe near where I work, about a year ago. She is absolutely TINY – definitely a size 0. I I always thought she was petite but a bit curvy – but she was an absolute stick. Beautiful, but a stick.
Imagine being at your perfect weight;
finally finding the miracle combination of the right foods in the right amount with an exercise regime that supports it, all while retaining some morsel of pleasure in your day-to-day life.
Now imagine having to lose 10 more lbs.
That’s what it’s like to maintain a camera ready weight.
It sounds fu*@ed up, because IT IS.
Yep, she is only stating what is true and already known. Wish she would not bring up Mamma Mia as an example though. Apart from Pearce Brosnan’s singing she was clearly the weakest point of the movie, her acting laughable. She acted like a crazed out teen on a 2 hour acid trip.
I don’t get the hate. Nothing she’s said, other than the dig against the Big Love, has been snotty, obnoxious, or career-ruining. The Big Love dig was impolitic, though she was right that the season sucked.
And please don’t go bashing her because she called living in LA a sacrifice. Everybody makes different sorts of sacrifices, doesn’t mean she’s wrong to say it. No more than to call a cop selfish and self-righteous for wanting more pay to live in the city.
On this diet thing, good for her. If this is bitching, I’d rather have her type of bitching than actresses bullshitting the world about how they don’t diet, how they can eat as many burgers as they want, how eat regular ice creams, and other bull.
Like it or not, being thin and good looking is where the money is at. Do you really think Julia Roberts would have been an A lister making 10 mil a picture if she weren’t skinny?
A plus sized actress can get work in Hollywood, but not for the money you’d see for a thin, beautiful starlet. Really, does anyone think Queen Latifah would get the same amount of paycheck or the role that Scarlet Jo got in Iron Man II? Or Halle Berry’s role in that bomb Catwoman?
LEAVE HER ALONE! Omg–stop hating this girl!
i love that she attemts to eat healthy, but I’ve seen her movies, and I actually LIKE and PREFER her softer more fleshy body type. In that dumb Jennifer’s Body–There was skinny Megan and plump Amanda–and i loved it! You go girl–you worked hard and you’re talented and damn you’re beautiful!
When Kate Winslet first came out in Titanic, she was a lot bigger than she currently is. She’s one of those actresses who never get called out on transforming herself to fit into the hollywood mold – got thinner and blonder.
I’d rather read about Amanda’s honest answers than hear about how weight just magically comes off as some actresses get older. People do a lot of things for money. Everyone has a sale price.
Well, it is not like she is lying as the skinny scene in Hollywood is pretty jacked up. Same goes for the modeling scene. I am nowhere near overweight but when I look at these actors on screen or in magazines and how skinny they are, I feel pudgy! It isn’t normal to see bones and be called sexy. Just not right, and I agree with her that it is f**ked up.
I have to say I like her. This may be my cough medicine talking but it’s a pretty rare thing for an actress to be that honest and up-front about the pressures to conform in Hollywood (I mean, poor Brittany Murphy RIP).
The one thing I don’t like about her? She’s a homewrecker. She hooked up with her BF Dominic Cooper on the set of Mamma Mia, ending his 11-year relationship with another Brit actress.
Not cool IMO
I am not an AS fan, and I HATED Mamma Mia with a passion (I know I know…even my husband liked it) but I APPRECIATE her being so honest here. Unlike other actresses who blame their metabolisms, running around after their kids, and their “busy lifestyles” for their extreme thinness (Tori Spelling anyone?) at least AS tells it like it is…raw food cleanses and a shit load of exercise…and having to put up with a “f***ed up and twisted” atmosphere around women’s bodies to boot. Sounds like fun…NOT
How many times must you put the hate on this girl? Nothing she’s said has been snotty or bratty to me. She’s simply honest. Romantic comedies make money and the great majority of them are garbage. She is absolutely required to stay fit in order to work and it’s messed up. None of this is false and none of it is bratty.
Incidentally, mike, it was Chloe Sevigny that insulted Big Love’s past season. All Amanda Seyfried said was that she wasn’t getting enough work so she left the show to pursue other things. Of course, it’s obnoxious of her to want to work. Bah.
I think a lot of these hags are so snappy and bitchy because they don’t eat. It takes a toll on you, even after a week or so- imagine having to starve yourself for years and then endure the humiliation of being told you’re still too ‘fat’ for a part. And being told that by a fat, bald, middle age douche who’s never had to consider a single thing he’s stuffed in his mouth. You’d be cranky too.
I just don’t get why thousands of people every year are lining up to participate! Do any of these actors/celebrities sound super happy or fulfilled to you, because to me they sound like a bunch of neurotic tweaking nutcases. So the attraction is completely mysterious to moi. If you want to act, join a local theatre company and stay the hell away from Hollywood- you’ll thank me later.
Dude, Kaiser. I don’t know what your beef with Amanda is, but it seems to me like everytime you post a story like this 80% of your audience disagrees with you. I’ll say it again like I’ve said it before (and others, too), I think she’s refreshingly open and honest and I wish more actresses would just tell it like it is. We all know this body image thing to be true (look at Dove’s ad campaign to support women of “real” sizes, it’s unfortunately failing from many news stories I’ve read) so what’s wrong with her saying it? Honestly if she said “well I don’t worry about staying thin, I think that my talent is enough to get me jobs” you’d be calling her a snobby, conceited bitch too. She can’t win. Leave her alone!
EDIT: Also, I think #3 has an awesome point.. finally SOMEONE in Hollywood admitting they’re not naturally skinny, and have to do insane things against their will to keep getting work.
No, most do not seem happy. Most Hollywood types didn’t get enough caring, attention or love in childhood and they’re trying to fill up that emptiness with mass adoration.
Most well-adjusted people would not want fame. But some crave it. What they’re really craving is something else, so I doubt fame ever fulfills them.
I agree with you, Kaiser! This chick is very obnoxious. She was at the Dallas International Film Festival with some friends, supposedly just to support some skateboard movie and not Bill paxton. She was yelling really loud in a nearly empty lobby that she was not drunk and then when a photographer approached her, she shooed him away. She was trying too hard to look casual and uninterested while still trying to get attention.
She sounds “snotty” TRANSLATION: she’s a pretty girl w/an opinion. Of course, she should grovel on the floor and say, “I’m SO LUCKY!, tee hee. I don’t know how I got here. I’m so sweet! I’m so grateful!” (end of fake sweetheart routine). WHY do some women do this to each other? Men never say things like “Wow, he sounds uppity, I hate him! Let’s take him down.” I don’t get it. I saw her on Chelsea Lately and she was very funny, honest and realistic. She didn’t sound fake at all. But, I guess that’s what everyone here seems to want: the fake, sweetheart, “I’m so sweet and likeable” routine–where women can’t be honest, and have to watch every word that comes out of their mouths. Talk about placing women into a sad little box.
Idk, I really like her. I think she has a healthy perspective on things. I like that she doesn’t claim to be naturally thin, and that she doesn’t seem to be clubbing all the time. She’s just out with her dog in the pics. I think we all forget that even though it’s a glamorous job, acting is still a job. Sometimes we hate aspects of our job. If I were an actress, I’d consider a romcom a sacrifice too. Megan Fox is a talentless tw*t, Amanda Seyfried is really quite talented and is naturally incredibly beautiful. Just an opinion.
Well, Kate Hudson knew when she was giving birth,and probalby signed on for that role pre-pregnancy, for all we know…or at least while she was pregnant. so she didn’t need to gain 70 lbs!
In any case, she knew she woul dneed to lose the weight quickly. I don’t think that is discrimination-if the role in the film called for a certian character, and she signed on for it,so be it.
That’s a poor example.
Honestly-it’s not like they ‘forced her to take the role’, or that she just signed for it 3 weeks prior.
That’s actually a ridiculous example, come to think of it further!
Nothing to do with this post, either.
I’d be jaded living in Hollywood land too. I’m glad she keeps it real.
Why this savage need to attack one of the very few actresses who would tell you the truth about life in Hollywood?
She’s a great role model for the young girls who think it’s all roses and champaign.
You are a better person somewhere inside.
i like she’s honest admitting she diets
and agree with you that actresses with real talent like meryl streep can avoid the rule (but they are only exceptions)
totally agreeing with kiki here
amanda is being honest about the crap that women and girls go through in Hollywood.. what’s with the hate?
what DO you want from her? should she lie and grovel to make us feel better about our own lives?
hollywood is sexist. let’s speak the truth.
or would we rather punish those who do speak the truth? isn’t that us being sexist too?
It’s great to see an actress finally admitting to the crap that goes on behind the scenes. It’s great that we know she is into her raw foods diet, because now us regular folk know we can’t eat a bucket of KFC chicen and look like her…