Amanda Seyfried had two very different films arrive in the same year: the mainstream thriller The Housemaid and the historical musical drama The Testament of Ann Lee. To her, the two roles are more connected than they may seem.
“By the end of the day, both are about female strength and character,” Seyfried said. “Women with needs, driven by those needs and by the need for equality and safety in the world.”
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(Photo: Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)
The Housemaid, now available on VOD in Israel through HOT and yes, became an unexpected hit after its December release. The thriller, based on Freida McFadden’s bestselling novel, stars Sydney Sweeney as a former inmate hired as a maid in the home of a wealthy couple played by Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar.
“When they offered me The Housemaid, I said, ‘Count me in. This will be a hit. You want to pay me for this? Great,’” Seyfried said. “And we’re going to shoot in Jersey? Yeah. It was perfect timing.”
She said the role gave her a chance to tap into rage and comedy.
“Was playing Nina Winchester in The Housemaid challenging? No,” Seyfried said. “But it was offering me a way to feel and experience the world in a way that has no consequences, and feel rage and use my comedic energy and needs as an artist.”
Seyfried credited director Paul Feig, calling him “a f***ing genius,” and said McFadden’s audience helped drive the film’s success.
“Freida speaks to millions and millions and millions of mostly women,” she said. “She creates really fun stories about women. That has to tell you something.”
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Her other film, The Testament of Ann Lee, was directed by Mona Fastvold, who co-wrote it with Brady Corbet. The film, shown at the Venice and Berlin film festivals, tells the story of Ann Lee, the English-born founder of the Shakers, an 18th-century Christian sect that preached equality between men and women and celibacy.
Fastvold said the film required a difficult balance between the strange and the sincere.
“I do think that my goal was to present this story with truly kind of an open mind,” Fastvold said. “I’m not making fun of them. But at times you have to laugh at the absurdity of what this is.”
At the same time, she said, the Shakers’ ideas about equality, empathy, community and social and economic equality were “beautiful.”
“I see her as a radical feminist and humanist as well,” Fastvold said.
Seyfried said the film pushed her further than she expected.
“When someone offers me a challenge like Mona, if I make a decision to be up for it, I actually can,” she said. “There is a lot of fearlessness in me when it comes to performing.”
She said the experience helped her overcome self-doubt.
“I was able to overcome something very scary, which is my own insecurities,” Seyfried said. “They can’t stop you from realizing something, especially when you have a group of people who are all there for the same reason.”
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Asked whether compassion is disappearing from modern life, Seyfried said she does not believe it is gone.
“I don’t think it’s disappearing,” she said. “I just think that people are scared.”
She said it has become harder to actively care for others when people feel their own rights, safety or livelihoods are under threat.
“It’s not hard to be compassionate, but it’s certainly hard to be actively compassionate,” Seyfried said. “The compassion is still there. I think there’s just too much fear enveloping us.”
Seyfried said she chooses projects first by looking at the filmmaker.
“I’m just looking for a really fucking fantastic director with a very clear vision,” she said. “It’s really all about the director, and then I work from there.”
The role of Ann Lee, she said, gave her confidence that carried into The Housemaid.
“I don’t know how much of Nina I would have been able to experience and unlock without having played Ann Lee,” Seyfried said. “From Ann Lee, I can do anything. I might as well have fun with it.”
Seyfried said The Testament of Ann Lee also deepened her relationship with music as a performer.
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(Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
She said making the film was emotionally overwhelming when she saw the finished work for the first time in Venice.
“It just brought me to my f***ing knees, the way good art does,” she said. “I was so proud to be a part of it and so proud of Mona.”
Fastvold said the film has continued to draw unusually thoughtful responses from critics and audiences.
“With this movie in particular, the writing has been so thoughtful and so intelligent,” she said. “I feel really deeply seen by the community of journalists around the world.”
Seyfried said the reaction showed that the film was still unfolding for audiences.
“People are really understanding the rarity that this is,” she said. “I think we’re just getting started.”
For Seyfried, the demanding role also clarified something personal.
“I know I’m lazy sometimes,” she said. “But when someone offers me a challenge, I can keep pushing.”
The result, she said, is another step in a career built around risk, music and roles centered on women.
“I make movies for women,” Seyfried said. “Women go to theaters because we make movies for women.”
