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When the Oscar nominations came out last month, one of the more surprising snubs was a Best Actress nod for Amanda Seyfried’s performance in the historical musical drama, The Testament of Ann Lee. She campaigned for one and scored a Golden Globes nomination, but it’s a crowded field this year. To date, her only nomination was for Best Supporting Actress in 2020 for Mank, but she did win an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout. Amanda, who turned 40 in December, sat down with Net-a-Porter for a nice profile about embracing her 40s, her magical new hobby, and how she’d like for people to remember her as an actress.
And now, for her next trick: “My friends are giving me magic tricks for my birthday because that’s my new plan: to learn how to do magic for kids. But I was with Paul Feig [the director and actor] last night for dinner and I showed him that I’ve been working on magic – he’s a magician and he pulled out a domino from his pocket, and then it just came out behind my ear. I was like… ‘Touché!’ There are levels. Magic is very hard.”
Fearless 40s: “I’m embracing myself in this new decade in a way that I wondered if I’d be able to when I was a little younger. I kind of value myself a little differently in that, wow, I got here and I’m doing OK.”
Playing Nina in The Housemaid: The role allowed Seyfried to combine being “compassionate, supportive, a mom and a listener – and a raging bitch. I got to explore my rage in this movie in a way that I’ve never gotten to do. I owe it so much. I’m a p-ssy, I’m not good with confrontation, with negative stuff. But now? It’s empowering in a way. I act on things more. It’s part Nina, definitely, being a mom, especially of a girl. But playing characters like this, I’m like, wow, you don’t have to be desperate to feel rage. You can just be honest.”
She just wants to sing: She once said she “doesn’t do live singing”, but after that viral Joni Mitchell cover on late-night TV and now The Testament of Ann Lee, she’s changing her tune. “I’m live singing all the time now,” she beams. “I don’t want to make a record or anything, I just want to have fun. I need to let more people know that if you need a female harmonizer, or if you need a collaborator on a song, I’m not going to beg for royalties. I just want the opportunity to make the music!”
Life in Upstate NY: “It’s way less Hollywood noise. [My children] know that I’m a recognized person in the world, that I’m an actor and that me being on TV is very normal for them. And they also know that they’re safe at home and have their own privacy – and that’s everything.”
She’s got nothing to prove anymore: “I don’t feel like I have anything to prove to Hollywood anymore – to my peers or the industry – but I feel like, if I did, I’d be really quite happy. I’m a chameleon. [Or] I want to be. I want people to say, ‘She could have been anyone.’”
This interview was done right after Amanda’s birthday and before nominations came out, but after reading it, it’s clear that not being nominated won’t discourage her. I really admire that Amanda challenges herself with each role she takes on. She is crushing her goal to be a chameleon-type of actress. She’s great at comedy, drama, biopic portrayals, and musicals. 20 years ago, I would never have guessed that the actress who played Karen Smith in Mean Girls would have this huge, varied career. She has definitely proven that she is not one to be type-cast.
As for the rest of the interview, let the woman play Joni Mitchell! She’s clearly demonstrated that she’ll put in the work and be respectful of source material. I also found it really powerful when she mentioned that living in Upstate New York helps her children maintain their sense of safety and privacy. That’s so important for them. Oh, and I also love that Amanda has taken up learning magic. She’s in good company in Hollywood! Steve Martin, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, and Neil Patrick Harris are some among many actors that also consider themselves magicians. How neat would it be to have a bunch of them come together to do some sort of charity benefit show where they perform their tricks? That could be really fun.
Photos credit: Getty and via Instagram
I’m also impressed Karen from Mean Girls has such a great and varied career. A shame she didn’t get the best Actress nomination this year.
I think of her first from Big Love, which was a great role. She handled some challenging work as a teen. I will always have a soft spot for her. Weirdly, when Sydney Sweeney first came on the scene, I thought she was in Amanda’s mold, but was quickly proven wrong. Amanda could have relied on sexy but she pursued roles to stretch her range, and I respect her so much for that. I hope she gets that Oscar eventually!!
She was just on Kelly Clarkson and she sang live. So so great!
I really love her. She is so immensely talented and she seems so down to earth.
I wonder if she made that sweater? I know she’s an avid crocheter.
I saw a clip of her on Graham Norton (it actually focused on Margot Robbie) and was struck by how pretty and natural she is. She’s always been beautiful but her face is expressive and untweaked.