Amanda Seyfried talks Mamma Mia 3, her religious new role, and why she doesn't envy "spotlight" on Sydney Sweeney

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

Since making her big-screen debut in 2004’s Mean Girls, Pennsylvania-born Amanda Seyfried has starred in films as diverse as Mamma Mia!, Lovelace and David Fincher’s Mank, for which she was Oscar-nominated.

On TV, she’s appeared in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: the Return, and won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as disgraced CEO Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout.

She’s now earning rave reviews for her latest role in The Testament of Ann Lee, Mona Fastvold’s historical musical drama about the 18th-century founder of the Shakers religious sect.

Your director Mona Fastvold says she cast you as Ann Lee because “she’s really strong, a wonderful mother and a little bit mad”. Are you happy to take that?

Sure. I think she meant it in a good way. “Mad” can mean so many things, but for this, it meant being completely uninhibited. The ego is a barrier for actors, and you have to be able to put that aside. As I’m getting older in my career, people seem to be able to trust me to show up in that way. Like the scene where Ann is speaking in tongues. How many directors are going to let me react like that? To allow me to just improv freely, in the most absurd way? It felt incredible.

But you’ve also said making the film was “hard as f**k”. How?

I hate being wet and cold, and on a film set you can be wet and cold for eight hours a day. It wasn’t suffering, by any means. But it was extreme discomfort. The grief was extensive as well. [Ann lost all four of her children in infancy.] Nobody wants to feel grief. Luckily, I haven’t had to explore that in my personal life, but it’s my biggest fear. So it was imagining what that would feel like. Afterwards, I just had to hold myself.

You took your husband [actor Thomas Sadoski], daughter and son to Budapest for the shoot. Did they have fun?

It was wonderful. The kids were just so happy. My son had never been out of the country, because he’s a Covid baby. They saw palaces and all these weird places. And we took the dog, which was tricky, because it meant taking 80 pounds of frozen dog food to the country. Was it contraband? No. Wait? Oh, my God! Can I be retroactively imprisoned?

Having a religious fundamentalist as the heroine is quite a bold choice. Are you a person of faith?

I’m not a person of that kind of faith. But then not many people were a person of Ann’s faith. I grew up in the United Church of Christ, which was quite relaxed. There was no speaking in tongues. It was quite boring for me. I don’t go to church any more. My church now is when I go into nature.

Are you managing not to let all the praise — including Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominations — go to your head?

I feel really good about all that. I don’t need the accolades – but, by God, it helps my business. And with Ann Lee, I felt satisfied myself, watching it back. There are a few things I won’t ever love – moments where I feel my Manchester accent kind of falls off. But I’m proud of it and I can stand behind it.

This isn’t your first musical, of course. Are you confident there will be a third Mamma Mia!?

It’s inevitable. We’re all just waiting for the call, really. I mean, Meryl Streep will have to be a ghost, but I think she’s fine with that. There are enough Abba songs for 18 movies. If Fast & Furious can get made this often, can we at least have a third Mamma Mia! to finish the trilogy?

You auditioned six times for Ariana Grande’s role in the Wizard of Oz retelling Wicked. Are you over it now?

Yeah. I’ve been making the [promo] rounds with all of them, and it’s like everything happens for a reason. I wasn’t sad I didn’t get it, but I guess I wish it had been communicated to me in a better way. I don’t like to be in the dark about things. I like to feel appreciated.

You also recently starred in The Housemaid with Sydney Sweeney. It’s been pointed out that you could be sisters…

That was kind of the set-up of the film – that we are eerily similar, physically. I mean, she’s quite a bit younger than me, and I’m totally accepting of my older role in a way I used to be scared I wouldn’t be. I don’t miss my 20s or early 30s. I’m absolutely good where I’m at.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about Sydney…

I don’t envy her at all. I imagine it’s hard to keep your head when people are constantly trying to project onto you. I never had that spotlight shining so bright. But every time I see Syd, she’s happy to be there. Life is constant emotional acrobatics, but it’s heightened for her. I mean, it’s heightened for me, but it’s really heightened for her.

You’re 40 now. Are you looking forward to the next decade?

Yes, because most of my friends are in their 40s and it seems they’re all happier. And it’s kind of obvious why. It’s an age when you know who you are, and you know what you want.

The Testament of Ann Lee is in cinemas now

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