Amanda Seyfried in “Long Bright River”. Interview plot

TOsend Seyfried is in a rush because she has to take her daughter Nina («seven years old that seems like seventeen») to see the Disney Christmas film, and there is no work commitment that matters: the little girl’s anticipation is feverish, his contagious haste. Mother Amanda still answers our questions with availability, as sweet Sophie would do Oh mama!

It’s that movie’s fault if people expect me to always be cheerful and smiling” he sighs, pretending to be sorry. At the moment, however, the actress and co-producer is the star of a new series, Long Bright Riverbased on the best seller The skies of Philadelphia by Liz Moore (NN Editore), which is very little reassuring: «I’m a policewoman, Mickey, who works in Kensingtona rough neighborhood in Philadelphia known as the center of opioid dealing” says Amanda. «Mickey has a sister who has fallen into a drug spiral and disappears and the policewoman, convinced that her sister was killed, wants to look for the culprit, wandering around prostitutes and junkies. Mickey also has a son to whom she is very close and a new patrol partner with whom she must get along: a microcosm of relationships that the audience will come to know, and I hope also to appreciate.”

Why did you choose this role?
I’ve wanted to play a cop since I was fifteen, and one who patrols the streets, not a desk detective. Then I was dying to wear the uniform. I want us to see in the series that policemen exist
good but also bad, and that there is corruption even in the police force. Furthermore, I’m happy that it’s set in Philadelphia, the capital of the state where I was born and raised: it made me feel closer to my family of origin. Finally, I liked the idea of ​​talking about a smart professional who is also a present mother: it is a role that I know well, since I became mother to Nina and Thomas, who is now five years old.

However, we are used to seeing her in less dark roles.
But I also have my dark side, in addition to the fact that I have met people like Mickey, and I have read books and seen films in which the “dark side” was abundantly explored. The profession of actress has allowed me to get to know realities very far from my own, and it’s like having experienced a hundred lives. But I have also learned to keep the work of empathizing with a character separate from my private sphere, because I know I must always remain emotionally accessible to my children.

Not just mom roles

What roles are offered to you today?
Lots of moms! (laughs) Luckily there’s also something else: I just finished filming a historical film, The Woman Clothed By The Sunin which I play Ann Lee, the founder of the Protestant Shakers sect in eighteenth-century England (also known as the United Society of Believers in the Second Appearance of Christ, a branch of Puritan Calvinism, ed) told from ages 23 to 48, and it was a joy to be back in my twenties for a while, before pregnancies and children. I’m glad that Hollywood can see me again as a non-mom, even though being a mother is my favorite role in life.

Is it difficult to balance career and family?
It’s a puzzle every time, but I’ve developed a technique: I don’t make films that require me to move more than two hours away from my family. Luckily I can count on the help of my husband (the American actor Thomas Christian Sadoski, ed), Of my mother who lives with us and a babysitterbut for children the mother remains the mother. Last summer, when I filmed in Budapest, I brought the whole family with me, including the dog. But during the school year it is not possible, and the “two-hour plan” takes over, with some tricks to make my children feel that I am always thinking of them: for example, with Nina I build a calendar of how many days remain until I return and the I ask for a drawing of hers to be found upon arrival, because she likes drawing so much. For me, however, it is also important to show the children how much I love my work: I don’t want them to think that it is just something that keeps us away.

The movie Mean Girlswhich made her famous at eighteen, depicted a school environment that places strong social pressures on girls. How will she prepare Nina to face them?
The only way is to give her space to express her emotions openly and let her know that she can talk to me and her father about anything. Today, even at school in America we teach to set boundaries: a “no” when something makes us uncomfortable is the most honest and direct response, and helps everyone to be clear about the situation. You can’t worry too much that expressing your feelings could hurt those of others: which doesn’t mean not caring, because kindness and respect remain the first thing, it means not letting a bulldozer run over you. This won’t prevent Nina from finding herself heartbroken by some friend or boyfriend in the future: but her ability to say no without feeling guilty will be her superpower.

Do women have more power in cinema today?
We are moving towards greater equality, but every time I have to negotiate a contract I ask myself if a man has the same difficulty, and the answer is no. But today there are organizations that support women in cinema, whereas when I arrived in Hollywood as a teenager there was no safety net. At the time I tried to please everyone and I was used in every way possible, and asphalted several times. Today there is greater support for young actresses, and for women in general. Sometimes the movements that support female affirmation exaggerate, but I believe that we need to go a little further to then find the right measure in building a safe space for everyone.

Do you also see improvements in the female image on screen?
n part. I’ll give you an example: my daughter’s best friend is six years old, and the other day while leaving a cinema she said: “I want to be thin like the actresses in the film”. Now, I have always been petite, like my mother and father, but it scares me that some little girl, seeing me on the screen, will take me as a model and perhaps stop eating, because I don’t deny myself anything at the table, even if I try to follow healthy eating. In Hollywood, however, you see very thin women everywhere trying to be even thinner: it’s an illness, and a terrible example to set.

What is your fashion style?
Generally I rely on stylists, who immediately understand what might suit me. My red carpet look is a jacket, because my arms are always cold, and a short skirt because I think I have nice legs! In general I look for an outfit that makes me feel comfortable, something practical.

Sometimes, however, she likes to go overboard, like with the dress she wore for the last Met Gala…
My kids went crazy when they saw me with that fairy look designed by Prada! For the Gala you have to exaggerate and step out of your comfort zone: they are not clothes, they are works of art. In that case I let myself be transformed, by the dress as well as by the make-up and hairstyle. Otherwise on the red carpet I am myself, with an added fashion touch.

You will be 40 next year: how do you feel about your relationship with age?
Every age has its beauty, I am increasingly convinced of this. I have been collaborating with Lancôme for years, now we are like a family of talented women who cross generations to represent common values. I remember an advertising campaign in which I, Isabella Rossellini, Julia Roberts, Lily Collins and many others were asked to sing and dance, not to make pretty statues. Being part of this community makes me feel supported even in this epochal transition.

One last curiosity: there will be a Oh mama! 3and will he be part of it?
The answers are: yes and yes. Not because the production proposed it to me, but because I will do everything possible to make it happen: write it down, please!

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