Amanda Seyfried

Amanda Michelle Seyfried (/ˈsaɪfrɛd/ SY-fred;[1] born December 3, 1985) is an American actress. Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, she began modeling at age 11 and ventured into acting at 15, with recurring roles as Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns (1999–2001) and Joni Stafford on the ABC soap opera All My Children (2003). She came to prominence for her feature film debut in the teen comedy Mean Girls (2004), and her recurring roles as Lilly Kane on the CW/Hulu television series Veronica Mars (2004–2006) and Sarah Henrickson on the HBO drama series Big Love (2006–2011). Seyfried has appeared in a number of films, including Mamma Mia! (2008) and its sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), Jennifer's Body (2009), Dear John (2010), Letters to Juliet (2010), Red Riding Hood (2011), In Time (2011), Les Misérables (2012), A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014), Ted 2 (2015), and First Reformed (2017). She received critical acclaim for her portrayal of Marion Davies in David Fincher's biopic Mank (2020), earning nominations for the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. For her starring role as Elizabeth Holmes in the drama miniseries The Dropout (2022), she won a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022.[2] Amanda Michelle Seyfried was born on December 3, 1985, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.[3][4] Her mother, Ann Seyfried (née Sander) is an occupational therapist, and her father, Jack Seyfried, is a pharmacist.[4][5] She is of mostly German descent with smaller amounts of English, Scots-Irish, and Welsh ancestry.[6] She has an older sister, Jennifer Seyfried, who is a musician in the Philadelphia rock band Love City.

Seyfried attended William Allen High School in Allentown, graduating in 2003.[7] She subsequently enrolled at Fordham University in New York City in the fall of 2003, but chose not to attend after being offered a role in the 2004 film Mean Girls.[8] While attending William Allen High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Seyfried began modeling. She appeared in several print ads for clothing companies, including Limited Too with Leighton Meester, and was featured on three covers of the Sweet Valley High novel series.[4][9] At age 17 she stopped modeling[4] and started a job as a waitress in a retirement community.[10] While still a teen, she took vocal lessons, studied opera, trained with a Broadway coach, and began her acting career as an extra in Guiding Light, a daytime television drama.[11] From 2000 to 2001 she played the recurring character Lucy Montgomery on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns[11] and, from 2002 to 2003, Joni Stafford on the ABC soap All My Children.Following Big Love, Seyfried played a supporting role, as Zoe, in the 2008 horror drama film Solstice and co-starred with Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, a romantic comedy film adaptation of the 1999 musical of the same name. Mamma Mia!, which was Seyfried's first leading role, was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008,[16] and, as of February 2021, the 159th highest-grossing film of all time.[17] Five songs from her musical performance in Mamma Mia! were released on the film's soundtrack.[18] As part of promotion for both the film and its soundtrack, Seyfried recorded a music video of the song "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)".

In March 2008, Seyfried was cast in the comedy horror film Jennifer's Body as Anita "Needy" Lesnicki, the title character's best friend.[19] The film, which premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and was released to theaters on September 18, 2009,[20] received mixed reviews from critics.[21] The same year she was cast in the comedy drama independent film Boogie Woogie. She played Paige Oppenheimer, one of the lead roles in the ensemble movie. The movie was originally shown on June 26, 2009, at Edinburgh International Film Festival, and was shown in US theaters April 25, 2010. On February 22, 2009, Seyfried presented an award and performed at the 81st Academy Awards ceremony. In early March 2009, director Zack Snyder had tapped Seyfried to portray the lead role, Baby Doll, in Sucker Punch,[22] but Seyfried had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with Big Love.[4][23] Seyfried starred alongside Channing Tatum in Dear John, the film adaptation of the novel of the same name that was written by Nicholas Sparks.[24] The film, which was released February 5, 2010, received generally negative reviews.[24] Seyfried wrote and recorded "Little House", a song on one of the soundtracks of Dear John.[25] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "Seyfried gives the character and her relationship all she's got, but she can't do all the heavy lifting. The romance is too one-sided, and frankly, you can't blame her for steering her life into another channel."[26] Despite the negative reviews, Dear John became the first film to break up Avatar's box office reign at number one at the United States box office, grossing $80 million in the U.S. theatrically and $115 million worldwide.

In 2003, Seyfried auditioned to play Regina George in Mean Girls, but the role eventually went to Rachel McAdams. While she was initially considered for the lead role of Cady Heron, ultimately played by Lindsay Lohan, the film's producers decided that Seyfried should play Karen Smith, Regina's dim-witted "plastic" friend and sidekick.[11] The film was a box office success, grossing over $130 million in its theatrical run.[12] Seyfried's performance in the film earned her, along with Lohan, Lacey Chabert, and McAdams, an MTV Movie Award in the category of "Best On-Screen Team".Following Big Love, Seyfried played a supporting role, as Zoe, in the 2008 horror drama film Solstice and co-starred with Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, a romantic comedy film adaptation of the 1999 musical of the same name. Mamma Mia!, which was Seyfried's first leading role, was the fifth highest-grossing film of 2008,[16] and, as of February 2021, the 159th highest-grossing film of all time.[17] Five songs from her musical performance in Mamma Mia! were released on the film's soundtrack.[18] As part of promotion for both the film and its soundtrack, Seyfried recorded a music video of the song "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)".

Seyfried then auditioned to play the title character on UPN's television series Veronica Mars.[11] The role eventually went to Kristen Bell, and Seyfried portrayed Veronica's murdered best friend Lilly Kane.[11] Her character was only shown in flashbacks.[11] In 2005, she played the lead character Samantha, a role written by director Rodrigo García specifically for her, in one of the nine parts of the film Nine Lives, composed of nine short films with different themes and an ensemble cast.[13] For her performance, Seyfried, along with the film's other female leads, won the role Best Actress at the Locarno International Film Festival. That year, she played the supporting character Mouse in the independent film American Gun. In 2006, she appeared in five episodes of Wildfire as Rebecca and played the lead role Chrissy in the short film Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, written and directed by Andrea Janakas. She also contributed in a minor role as Julie Beckley in Alpha Dog. From 2004 to 2006, she made multiple guest appearances on several television series, including House, Justice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, American Dad! and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.[11] With her role in the HBO drama television series Big Love, Seyfried's profile as an actress grew substantially; the series centered on a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in which Seyfried plays Sarah Henrickson, Bill and Barb's first daughter, who struggles with her family's polygamous faith.[14] Big Love premiered in the United States on March 12, 2006. In December 2009, HBO confirmed that Seyfried would return for the show's fourth season, but that it would be her last since she wished to begin concentrating on her film career and other upcoming projects.

Seyfried next appeared as the title character in the erotic thriller Chloe, released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.[29] Chloe premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2009.[30] In the film, Seyfried's character is an escort who is hired to test a husband's faithfulness after his wife concludes that his fidelity could not be trusted.[30] Chloe enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's highest-grossing film.[31] Seyfried's performance in the film received favorable reviews from critics, helping her gain industry acclaim and additional opportunities to play varied roles.[32] Later in 2010, Seyfried starred in the romantic-comedy film Letters to Juliet, based on the book by Lise and Ceil Friedman. Letters to Juliet was released to mixed reviews but was a box office success, grossing $80 million worldwide. For her performance, Seyfried was awarded "Showest Breakthrough Female Star of The Year".[33] She also won the "Scared-As-S**T" award for her performance in Jennifer's Body and was nominated for Best Female Performance for her movie Dear John, at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards.[34][35] Also in 2010, Seyfried was named to Forbes' "17 Stars To Watch" list,[36][37] and received three Teen Choice Award nominations, including for Choice Movie Actress Drama and Choice Movie Chemistry with her co-star Channing Tatum for roles in Dear John. Seyfried was also nominated for Choice Movie Actress Romantic Comedy for Letters to Juliet.