Amanda Seyfried Rewatches Mean Girls, Jennifer's Body, Mamma Mia, The Dropout & More

[frightening music and splashing]

Another scene. Traumatic.

Water. Don't do it.

Don't ever shoot in water.

Oh my God.

You don't even, this is - Megan!

[static]

Hi, I'm Amanda Seyfried,

and I am revisiting scenes

from throughout my career.

Here goes.

[retro 80's music grows louder]

[retro synthesizer music]

[tape clicking and rewinding]

♪ Someone to hear my prayer ♪

[people laughing]

God, what a nightmare scenario.

That Voulez-Vous song in this scene

is just so traumatic,

because we spent so long

learning this choreography,

and I can fake being a good dancer.

I didn't in this, I was just bad.

But if I have enough time,

I can fake being a good dancer.

This was just, just too much.

It's like the one Abba song

that I just never want to hear.

This scene specifically

is just very frantic,

and there's a lot of choreography

past the dancing,

where I'm running from one person to the next.

And, God, it's like a fever dream.

♪ A man after midnight ♪

♪ Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away? ♪

This is the movie that changed my life.

I went from getting guest stars,

doing small movies,

for the most part,

to being the front and center character

in a massive, massive movie.

I get to work with all these incredible people.

Meryl Streep is my mother.

How old are you?

I'm twenty.

[gasp]

The beginning part was shot in the studio,

and the part now that I'm watching

where I'm running down the hill

was shot in actual Greece.

So, it was months apart.

We shot day for night,

which is the worst

for someone with light eyes,

because I'm trying not to squint

the whole time.

Are you my father?

Yes.

It's one of the purest moments in the movie

because there's a lot of pride in Stellan,

and also a lot of shock and fear,

but also just full acceptance

in the space of such a small amount of time.

And it's a full circle moment.

It's beautiful.

It's funny too.

It's, comedically he's also just very skilled.

And I think because of this moment,

I always like secretly hoped

it was Stellan that was really her father.

Bill, I'm sorry. Bill.

He was the person

who seemed the least likely

to wanna have kids.

And, I think, from realization to acceptance.

There is a scene that was cut

of a song called Name of the Game,

and we sing it together and I'm singing,

begging him, like,

♪ What's the name of the game? ♪

And I just, I really love that moment with him.

We had a lot of fun.

We got really tight.

We actually did a movie,

Stellan and I did a movie

right after where he played my boyfriend.

So try that on.

Oh no, there's another one.

There's another father.

I know why I'm here.

Why didn't Donna tell me?

How long have you known How long have you known ...

that I'm your father?

What?!

I mean, this is so long ago.

Not long at all.

I wish just a child

[tape clicks]

with so many wrinkles.

God, we had so much fun.

Also genius directing, like,

you're having this crazy,

insane,

torturous,

like, struggle with this girl

and, and with her mother

and then all these men being like,

I'm, I will, I'm your fa-

Like, it's just such a genius move

to have it be during this

crazy dance to Voulez-Vous.

It was a struggle for me.

Just too much choreography in and out,

not being able to reach people, getting stepped on.

Too many people doing

too many different things in one room.

It's a lot of like stress on the actor,

but it's so funny how it turns out.

It just looks like it was so fun.

But it was, there was just

so much happening emotionally too.

I'm just like, all these men think that they're my father.

Like I, can you imagine?

And then these people are dancing around you

and it's like dizzying,

which is, God, I'm, it's

I feel like I'm experiencing it for the first time.

Poor Sophie.

What happens to her? [tape clicks]

[retro music]

[tape clicking and rewinding]

[tape clicking]

Somebody told him about Shane Oman.

Who?

[Regina] He said some guy on the baseball team.

Baseball team?

I gave him everything.

I was half a virgin when I met him.

You wanna do something fun?

You wanna go to Taco Bell?

I knew I wanted to be an actor

but it was my first movie,

the mics and the cameras.

I was just experiencing it like I was on Mars.

I was so present and it was such a,

an enlightening and fulfilling experience.

I was so clueless.

I think the reason I got Karen was I played that person

in high school in order to stay out of the drama.

It was an, a much easier transition

into playing Karen from where I was at

in my life at that point.

I was only 17 so I,

high school was like right there.

I can't go to Taco Bell.

I'm on an all carb diet.

God, Karen, you are so stupid.

Regina, wait, talk to me.

[Regina] Nobody understands me.

[Gretchen] I understand you.

This scene, the four of us kind of trying

to make Regina feel better,

there's a pretty famous line that I say:

Do you wanna do something fun?

Do you wanna go to Taco Bell? You wanna go to Taco Bell?

And to be honest,

that was actually the the fun thing that I probably

would've advised for us

in my actual high school as Amanda.

I don't know how we created our dynamic as the Plastics.

We all came from such different places.

We were different ages.

Lindsay and I were closer in age

and Lacey was just a few years older

and Rachel was a few years older than Lacey.

I remember the feeling

of everybody really wanting to be there

and really appreciating the ingenious of the script.

I remember everybody having a lot of fun.

There was just a vibe.

They, they cast it right.

We were all pretty cool people,

pretty happy people.

And Mark Waters is an an amazing director.

He just, he made it so fun.

You're not stupid, Karen.

No, I am actually.

I'm failing almost everything.

The whispery voice in Karen was based on

Some Like It Hot.

I had worked with this

comedic director on my Karen audition

because I'd first auditioned for Regina,

and I'd flown out to LA

for the first time with my mother.

It was very exciting.

I met Lacey Chabert for the first time,

and Lindsay Lohan was in the room,

and Blake Lively was playing Karen.

And then I was Regina.

I flew home and they were like,

you know what, let's,

we think you're,

you're more correct for Karen.

So I was like, oh God, okay, sure.

All right, how do I really nail it?

And so I worked with this comedic director named Dennis,

and he talked to me about Marilyn Monroe,

and I was like, that's a great idea.

And then I guess Mark Waters,

he helped me channel that a little better

and used that kind of wispy voice.

I never thought about that until now.

Well, there must be something you're good at.

I can put my whole fist in my mouth.

Wanna see?

No, that's okay.

Anything else?

I'm kind of psychic.

I have a fifth sense.

I think the reason we love Karen so much

and also the reason that she's so funny

is that she is just being brutally honest

and it's so beautiful,

and it's what makes her so endearing.

And she's not that smart,

but she totally knows it.

And everything that she reacts to is just her truth,

her, her true reaction.

And I think we all love people like that

because we can trust them.

What do you mean?

It's like I have ESPN or something.

My breasts can always tell when it's gonna rain.

Really? That's amazing.

Well, they can tell when it's raining.

I think this scene in particular leaves a mark

because I think we just feel how badly

she wants everybody to feel better.

Like, it's just that simple.

I think we just see

she's the person with the biggest heart

and she truly believes that the best idea

would be to go to Taco Bell,

and that her secret

[laughs]

is that she is psychic

and has a sports channel.

How could you not fall in love

with somebody who fully believes

that they have ESPN?

[retro music]

[tape clicking and rewinding]

[tape clicking]

♪ Can people really fall in love so fast? ♪

♪ What's the matter with you, Cosette? ♪

♪ Have you been too much on your own? ♪

It's when I start into the song

because I'm supposed to be English

♪ Questions and answers that somehow seem wrong ♪

♪ In my life ♪

♪ There were times when I catch ♪

♪ In the silence the sigh of a faraway song ♪

I thought singing live was the best idea ever.

I knew how tricky it was gonna be.

I was very scared by it.

But I also knew that

so much comes out of singing your emotions,

and it's such a beautiful expression

of where you are and your feelings,

and especially with love

and this character, Cosette.

I knew that I was taking a risk by,

by doing it after I got it finally,

six auditions later.

I knew I wasn't where I wanted to be vocally

because I had quit singing

for many years and had only done Mamma Mia.

And so that was like a session or two.

And this was gonna be like,

I needed stamina, I needed strength,

I needed to be able to sing in real time.

And I was pretty weak.

I, it's my one regret.

I wish I could do it all over again.

I wish I could go in a studio and redo my vocals.

But of course, that's not the point.

It was just so nice to relate

to my fellow character, fellow actors

with, in, through song.

And also it's my favorite musical.

I died for this musical when I was like twelve.

I remember seeing it in Philadelphia

when they were on the road,

and just being at the edge of my seat the whole time,

which is why I auditioned for it so many times.

Cause a lot of people were like, fuck that.

I'm not gonna do it.

Like, you know I can sing, you know I can act.

I'm not gonna do it,

but that's not how I take no.

And it was great.

It was beautiful.

God, it was so fun.

I love Hugh.

Tom Hooper really knew what he was doing.

♪ Does he know I'm alive? ♪

♪ Do I know if he's real? ♪

♪ Does he see what I see? ♪

♪ Does he feel what I feel? ♪

[tape clicking]

I think Tom Hooper just wanted to find the humanity

and keep it as grounded as possible,

knowing that, to start singing

is abstract and sometimes absurd.

He was able to marry the two in a way

that felt so natural.

He, like, he created a world that just felt,

like, as real as it could get.

And it didn't feel so crazy to start singing.

We had months of, of rehearsal

and he just got to the bottom of everything.

It was so gritty.

I hate to word, use that word, but it's just true.

It was gritty, it was dark, it was hard.

The singing really fit.

[orchestra playing]

♪ Dear Cosette, you're such a a lonely child ♪

This scene with Hugh, it's very intimate.

It's really beautiful and I love working with him.

He's amazing.

Yet it was so quiet,

and it felt like almost too quiet

for me to feel com, comfortable singing and confident.

That's one thing that I,

I lacked when I was that age with my voice.

Acting wise, I felt enough confidence.

But with singing, I was just,

I wasn't breathing well enough.

So I just, I remember,

I just remember him being so warm

and him knowing that I was struggling

and just feeling like he was there for me.

It was, it was a, it's a beautiful scene.

There's so much reality happening for me.

And when you trust your partner like that,

it's, even, if you're feeling like shit,

something real comes through and I'm able to speak-sing,

which is a little better than hitting that high E.

E? E? E.

Hoo!

You're really traumatizing me.

♪ Please forgive what I say ♪

♪ You are loving and gentle and good ♪

♪ But Papa, dear Papa ♪

♪ In your eyes I am still like the child ♪

♪ Who's lost in a wood ♪

Hugh Jackman is the most present,

really kindest person,

human being to walk this earth.

Everybody who's met him completely agrees.

It's just, there's nobody like him.

He's a good friend, but he's very paternal as well.

And I think that I just felt, like,

totally seen by him.

And when you're scared

and the person you're with knows you're scared

and accepts that you're scared,

you feel less scared.

That's his ability,

is his compassion.

I just remember feeling like,

it didn't matter what,

how it came out,

that he was just right there with me.

And he, he, he didn't, he didn't agree with me

that I was shit.

And that that's what a good parent does.

You know, a good friend does.

[retro music]

[tape clicking and rewinding]

[tape clicking]

[frightening music and splashing]

[screaming]

[loud, deep splashing]

Don't do it.

Don't ever shoot in water.

This pool is actually really warm.

Oh my God, you don't even, this - Megan.

The special effects in this scene -

we were all freezing.

I mean, look, I have this zombie vomit on me.

We're having a fight and then my boyfriend dies.

Like, this was an acting exercise like no other.

I don't think I've ever done a,

a scene like this in my life.

Karyn Kusama, who directed Jennifer's Body,

I mean she, she's incredible.

She was so fun to work with.

It was so heartfelt.

Megan and I had such a good relationship.

This is really emotional for her too.

It was like two best friends

just telling each other to fuck off.

Just beautiful, I love this movie.

It's so, it holds up.

I'm really proud of it.

We worked really hard, had the best time.

I just remember being cold a lot during this movie,

because we were shooting it at night

because it's a thriller and a lot of thrillers

are shot at night.

So every time you see somebody wet in a movie,

they're not just wet for a minute or two.

They're wet for like two days straight,

and there's warming tents and hot water bottles,

but you know, you have to act through it.

This was definitely

one of the first action sequences in my career.

I think because we shot this towards the end of the movie,

I had already done some other

special effects action sequences,

when I'm levitating above Jennifer and the bed,

hanging from a harness.

I remember realizing that it wasn't for me.

I don't wanna be in pain in that way.

I don't wanna make mistakes.

I go too full throttle when I'm acting,

that I don't trust that I will go halfway

when you're supposed to like fight,

or fly up and like, keep your balance.

Like you, you learn a lot from the stunt coordinators,

they are just invaluable.

But I just don't think that that's where my skills lie.

And I, and I don't trust myself to be able

to do both acting or action.

So I learned that at least.

And I, I think I've, I have done a bunch of action stuff,

but not as much as I think my peers.

[retro music]

[tape clicking and rewinding]

[tape clicking]

This juice is disgusting.

I hate it.

[tense rhythmic music]

Disgusting. Drink it.

No.

Elizabeth really snakes her way around every situation.

She's so deliberate and,

and cunning

and smart,

and will shapeshift in order to win.

And you see that happening in this scene with Sonny.

She loses control and then she gains control,

and then she loses control and she gains control,

and she doesn't wanna be out of control ever.

It's very uncomfortable -

for most of us it is, of course.

But she finds herself in a situation

where she actually doesn't know what's going on,

and briefly breaks down

because she's like incapable

for a second of knowing what to do.

And then what she does is, does what she does best.

She puts on a face and she commands herself to forge ahead.

Here, there, it's -

[sobs]

We are developing ...

[sniffles and breathes in deeply]

new technology.

This is an inspiring step forward.

What's going through my mind

when I'm doing the voice

for the first time as Elizabeth

in the mirror is that I'm,

Amanda's thinking, make it hurt.

Go as low as like, until it hurts.

And Elizabeth, I know, is thinking

find the power, find the depth.

They'll only take you seriously

if you go all the way in every way.

And this is like, be a man,

be the man, be the fucking man.

But I'm just like, scare yourself.

Like, look at yourself and scare yourself.

And I, I think I should let you know

that this was additional photography

on the last day of shooting.

And I said to Michael Showalter,

our director of episodes one through four,

I said, I don't think we need this.

He's like, we do. We need it.

Liz really wants it.

And I was like, we should call her.

I don't think we need this.

I just don't think we have time.

And then it's like, iconic now

in terms of the show and how it was marketed,

and I'm an idiot.

I was wrong.

And it was so fun to do.

I think I just knew I was done.

But I remember thinking like,

yeah, scare, like, scare yourself.

Inspiring step forward,

forward,

forward,

forward.

This is inspiring.

Step.

Forward.

The only research I didn't do was meet her.

I had many, many, many,

ten hours of deposition tapes.

In terms of the voice and the mannerisms

and the way she speaks

and how she uses her mouth and her hands.

And even to the way she listened.

I got to study.

So it was like muscle memory for me.

It was so delicious,

because I've only played three people,

three real people.

And the first two times,

they didn't have any footage like that.

This was like I was rich

with information of this person being themselves.

If that hadn't existed, I don't,

I, I, I, I still would've gotten

where I needed to be I think.

But it would've taken a lot longer.

And then of course there's so many interviews

where she's just really playing for the audience.

Of course there's glimpses of her,

she's still playing, but there's glimpses.

She's just such an actor and God,

what a dream role.

And I didn't wanna put it down.

I didn't wanna stop playing her.

I begged and begged and begged

our creator Liz Meriwether

to write another season because,

well, she goes to trial,

she gets pregnant, she has a baby,

she gets sentenced.

Like, even before she got sentenced, she's like,

even before her trial was over,

there's, it's, her life continues.

My job is to sympathize with her.

My job as an actor is to

connect and relate to as much as possible,

and have compassion for my character,

or I'm not gonna be able to do it.

When I was finished with the show,

I struggled finding any compassion anymore

because I'd used it all up,

which I didn't expect.

This is just an extraordinary, like,

circumstances for me because I'm,

this is a real person who made the wrong choices.

And so I, I kind of shut out all the deliberateness

and I shut out kind of the,

the people who were harmed,

and kind of try to stick with, with,

with where she was and how she might be struggling

and what, where she came from.

But it was really hard to not like,

be so angry with her

by the time I stopped shooting,

and I was not expecting that.

She fucked up so hard.

And I had given her so much credit

because it was my job.

But also because I'm a human being

and she's a mother.

Anyway.

[retro music]

[tape clicking and rewinding]

Thank you so much for watching.

I'm gonna turn it off now.

[musical sting]