Seyfried was nominated for best performance by a female in a motion picture – musical or comedy for her role as Anne Lee in “The Testament of Ann Lee” and best performance by a female actor in a limited series, anthology series, or a motion picture made for television for her role as Mickey Fitzpatrick in “Long Bright River.”
Where are you right now?
I’m with my mom and my sister for my birthday weekend at a snowy perfect paradise resort.
Oh. I was looking forward to talking to you from your farm. Maybe you had just milked a cow.
I don’t have a cow. I don’t fuck with cows.
Why not?
It’s way too much. Our farm is a sanctuary for elder animals to just die in peace. But also it’s a pain in the ass. We stayed overnight here and Tommy [husband Thomas Sadoski] is with the kids. He texted me in all caps, “LONG BRIGHT RIVER,” with an exclamation mark. I was like, OK. I thought it was just in response to a picture I sent him, because I travel with these little Christmas lights to express some kind of holiday vibe, and also “Long Bright River” had Christmas lights in the back of every shot. And I swear to God, I thought he was just referring to that. Then I called him. He was getting the kids ready and I guess he knew that it was Golden Globes day, and I didn’t.
Did you expect a nomination for “Long Bright River”?
Unexpected, but it’s really great. Coincidentally, I have two movies [“The Housemaid” and “The Testament of Ann Lee”] coming out. I haven’t had any movies come out in a while. Back-to-back is a lot. It’s great, but I’m in the machine.
Is there any chance this could mean a second season for “Long Bright River”?
I don’t think so. It was always limited. Here’s the thing:When you work on something that you deeply care about, where you leave everything on the field, and especially with good people — I felt very supported and definitely cried a lot at the end — you have these hopes and these ideas like, “OK, what can we do? Where would it go?” You start thinking that way. At the end of the day, it’s always a possibility to revisit that character, because she’s a real person in the world. I’m staying my course. I’m doing a comedy next. So all I can really think about is what I’m going to do next. I’m really excited for the levity of that.
Let’s try to imagine what Ann Lee would think of the nomination.
I think she’s just like, “The more the merrier.” She just wanted people to feel safe. She didn’t want anything for herself. She created a safe, peaceful path for herself in the worst kind of grief. She was able to find a way out of that. That’s tricky for most people, and she was able to do that, and she wanted to create that for a community of people for no other reason than to build each other up. They lift each other up, they support each other, and there’s nothing like feeling united for the greater good of the community. It’s a beautiful and powerful feeling. It’s effective in keeping people optimistic. We have this one life, right? I think we all do better and feel better when we’re supported by each other. We’re still talking about her, thank God. We got to keep telling that story, especially about women in the 18th century, because I don’t know if you know this, but from what I’ve been told, it’s really hard to lead a movement when you’re a woman. Oh, and it still is.
Are you preparing two acceptance speeches?
No, but you kind of always know who you want to thank. The only time I ever wrote an acceptance speech was – this is so embarrassing — was for the SAG Awards. It was the fourth and final awards show of “The Dropout.” I was like, “OK, I won the three so I’m going to actually write this one down because I don’t want to waste anyone’s time because I think there’s something very specific I could say to my fellow actors. I just want to be efficient and articulate. I wrote an acceptance speech for SAG and they didn’t call my name.
You can hold onto that speech for next time you get a SAG nomination.
I think preparation is great. I really do. I think it’s smart when people have an idea of what they are going to say. But in general, the nomination is really good for business. It feels really nice to be nominated, obviously, for work that was hard and meant a lot to me. But at the end of the day, it’s also really good for business. A win? Oh my gosh, extraordinary. But I am good now. Like, I’m relieved. I feel like I can rest easy. I don’t need to be up there. I’m just like, “I’m going to the ceremony, baby, and I’m taking my family out to L.A.”
Speaking of the business, obviously, there’s the big Netflix-Warner Brothers deal.
Oh, my god.
What do you think?
I don’t know the ins and outs of a lot of things, especially when it comes to the business of acquiring another giant company, but I’m wary. I’m a little nervous. When people talk about jobs being lost, that’s not a small thing. That’s terrifying. It feels like it undermines all the things that were already happening, or at least puts everything on some kind of really fragile foundation.
Before you go, I have to ask — have you seen a script for the next “Mamma Mia!” movie?
I recently talked to Stellan Skarsgård at the Gotham Awards. We’re all very in touch with [producer] Judy Kramer, who runs the whole show.
Do you think it’s going to happen?
It would be weird if it didn’t at this point.
