Amanda Seyfried
Seyfried at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival premiere of Jennifer's Body.
Born	Amanda Michelle Seyfried December 3, 1985 (1985-12-03) (age 24) Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Singer/Model
Years active	1995–Present

Amanda Michelle Seyfried (pronounced /ˈsaɪfrɪd/, sigh-frid; born December 3, 1985) is an American actress, singer-songwriter and former child model. She began her career as a child model when she was eleven and when she was fifteen she began her career as an actress; starting off with an uncredited role and going on to have a recurring role on television series – which expanded into her having a successful television career. In 2004, Seyfried made her film debut in Mean Girls playing a supporting role. She then went on to other films including Nine Lives (2005) and Alpha Dog (2007). In 2008, after landing a lead role on a popular television series (Big Love in 2006) Seyfried appeared as Sophie Sheridan in the musical feature film Mamma Mia!, and the following year in Jennifer's Body.

Early life

Seyfried was born Amanda Michelle Seyfried in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States on December 3, 1985.¹ Seyfried's mother, Ann (née Sander), was an occupational therapist, and her father, Jack Seyfried, was a pharmacist.¹² Seyfried has one older sister; Jennifer Seyfried, who is a musician in the Philadelphia organ-driven rock band "Love City".¹³ Amanda graduated in 2003 from Allentown's William Allen High School⁴ and subsequently enrolled at New York City's Fordham University. As a teenager, she appeared on the cover of three Francine Pascal books.

Career

Early work

In 1995, Seyfried started her career as a child model at age eleven.⁵¹ At the beginning of her modeling career she signed with Image International Agency (IIA) in Allentown, Pennsylvania (where she lived at the time) before switching over to work at Bethlehem's Pro Model Agency and eventually signing with Wilhelmina agency in New York City, New York.⁵ Seyfried's modeling career ended when she was seventeen.¹ During her modeling career she appeared in print ads for clothing companies; including Limited Too with Leighton Meester.¹

While modeling, Seyfried took voice lessons from eleven to seventeen.⁵¹ She took classes at the Civic Theatre of Allentown's Civic Theatre School in addition to training with a Broadway voice coach for nearly five years. She spent two years training for classical opera¹³ and acted on stage in New York productions include a revival of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey's musical Grease, Kenneth Grahame's “Wind in the Willows”, and Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.⁵ From there she began acting as an extra in the daytime drama television series Guiding Light; her role on the show was uncredited.⁵ In 2000, she originated the role of Lucinda Marie "Lucy" Montgomery #2 on the television show As the World Turns; appearing on the show as a recurring character, her role on the show lasted until 2001.⁵ After appearing in twenty-seven episodes, Seyfried left the show as a result of creative conflicts.⁵ From 2002 to 2003, Seyfried played the recurring role of Joni Stafford on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) broadcasted show, All My Children; Seyfried appeared in a total of three episodes.⁶

In the fall of 2003, Seyfried auditioned to play the mean-girl role of Regina George in the 2004 film Mean Girls; the role eventually went to Rachel McAdams, but the producers of the film picked Seyfried to play one of Regina's two dim-witted "plastic" friends and sidekicks, Karen.⁵ Seyfried had reportedly received the role of Karen over Ashley Tisdale. The film, which Seyfried co-starred alongside Lohan, McAdams, centered around Cady trying to 'take down' the "plastics" at her high school. Mean Girls was a block-buster box-office success, making over 129 million in its theatrical run.⁷ Seyfried's performance in the film earned her, along with Lohan and McAdams, a MTV Movie Award in the category of "Best On-Screen Team."⁸ Mean Girls marks Seyfried's feature film debut.⁹

Also in 2004, continuing her television career, Seyfried auditioned to play the title character on UPN's popular television show Veronica Mars, the role eventually went to Kristen Bell.⁵ Despite not receiving the role she had originally auditioned for, she won the role of the title character's murdered best friend Lilly Kane.⁵ Although her character was only shown in flashbacks, Lily was vital part of the first season's plot and made Seyfried one of the show's 'familiar faces'.⁵ Seyfried appeared in ten episodes from 2004–2005.⁶ In 2005, she played the lead character Samantha in one of the nine parts in the film Nine Lives, the film centers around nine short films with different themes with an ensembled cast. Writer-director Rodrigo Garcia wrote Samantha's part specifically with Seyfried in his mind for the role.¹⁰ For her performance in the film, Seyfried won an award from the Locarno International Film Festival, for Best Actress, which she shared with the film's other female leads.¹¹ The same year she played supporting character Mouse in American Gun.⁶ In 2006 Seyfried appeared in five episodes on Wildfire as Rebecca and had supporting role as Chrissy in Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves and a minor role as Julie Beckley in Alpha Dog. From 2004 to 2006, Seyfried made multiple guest appearances on television series, notably including House, M.D., Justice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.⁵

Career success

Seyfried at the premiere of her film Chloe at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival on September 13, 2009.

Seyfried's break-through role was portraying one of the main characters, Sarah Henrickson, in the HBO television series entitled Big Love. On the television show, which centers around a fictional fundamentalist Mormon, Seyfried plays Sarah, Bill and Barb's first daughter who is struggling with her father's polygamous faith.¹² Big Love premiered in the United States on March 12, 2006 and HBO confirmed that the show was renewed for a fourth season – which was filmed in August 2009, and is set to be premiered on January 10, 2010.¹³ To date, Seyfried has appeared in all thirty-five episodes of the show over the course of the shows three seasons.⁶ In December 2009, HBO confirmed that Seyfried would return to the shows fourth season, but that it would be her last because Seyfried had wanted to focus on her film career and up-coming projects.¹⁴

Following the success of Big Love, Seyfried had a supporting role as Zoe in the 2008 film Solstice. That year, Seyfried also co-starred alongside Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, a romantic comedy film adaptation of the 1999 musical of the same name.³ In the film, Seyfried portrays Donna's daughter and Sky's fiancée; the film was Seyfried's first film as a lead role. With the worldwide revenue of 609 million – compared to its 52 million budget – the film was a box office success; the film is also the fifth highest grossing film of 2008¹⁵ and currently is the 49th highest grossing film and musical film of all time.¹⁶

Her musical performance in Mamma Mia! is available on the film's soundtrack, for which she recorded five songs.¹⁷ As part of promotion for both the film and its soundtrack, Seyfried recorded a music video of the song, entitled "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)". On February 22, 2009, Seyfried presented an award and performed alongside her boyfriend Cooper, actors Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron and musicians Beyonce Knowles and Vanessa Hudgens during the 2009 Annual 81st Academy Awards ceremony.¹⁸

In March 2008, Seyfried signed on to co-star alongside Megan Fox and Adam Brody in the black comedy horror film Jennifer's Body, written by Diablo Cody.¹⁹ In the film Seyfried was cast as Anita "Needy" Lesnicki, the title character's best friend.¹⁹ The film was a box-office disappointment²⁰ and received mixed reviews from critics.²¹ The film premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and was released to theaters on September 18, 2009.²² In early March 2009, director Zack Snyder had tapped Seyfried to portray the lead role, "Baby Doll" in Sucker Punch.²³ Seyfried was set to co-star alongside Vannessa Hudgens and Jena Malone; though, within the same month, she had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with Big Love.²⁴¹ Emily Browning was later cast in the role.²⁵

Seyfried on September 10, 2009, at a screening of her film Jennifer's Body.

Seyfried is set to appear as the title character in Chloe; the film is set to be theatrically released on March 19, 2010.²⁶ Chloe, which Seyfried co-stars alongside Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore, had originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2009.²⁷ In the film, Seyfried plays Chloe, a woman who is hired to 'test' a husband because his wife feels that she cannot trust his fidelity; negative consequences ensue after the beginning of the arrangement.²⁷ In September 2009, Seyfried became attached to the film entitled Marmaduke.²⁸ The film, which co-stars George Lopez and Fergie, is based on a popular comic strip "Marmaduke".²⁸ The film will be a mix of live action and CG-animated creatures.²⁸ Seyfried was cast in the film as the voice of "Mazie".²⁸ The movie was filmed in the summer of 2009 and is currently scheduled to be released on June 4, 2010.²⁸

Seyfried co-starred alongside Channing Tatum in the film adaptation of the novel of the same name that was written by Nicholas Sparks, entitled Dear John.²⁹³⁰ The film was released on February 5, 2010.³⁰²⁹ Seyfried has written and recorded a song titled Little House, one of the official soundtracks of Dear John.³¹ Seyfried is also set to appear in the film entitled Letters to Juliet; the film is a film adaptation of the book of the same name by Lise and Ceil Friedman.³²³³ The film centers on a couple (Seyfried and García) who discover a letter written to Juliet Capulet.³³³² The film is set to be released on May 7, 2010. In late January 2009, Seyfried became attached to appear in Myriad Pictures' adaptation of Oscar Wilde's comedy "A Woman of No Importance".³⁴ The film, that Seyfried co-stars alongside Annette Bening and Sean Bean, is set to be released in 2011.³⁴³⁵ In the film, Seyfried will play the love interest to the womanizer Lord Illingworth at an "awfully posh upper-class party at the family's pile in the English countryside."³⁴³⁵

Personal life

In 2006, Seyfried began a relationship with actor and musician Jesse Marchant; the relationship ended after two years in 2008.³¹ In 2008, Seyfried began dating her Mamma Mia! co-star, Dominic Cooper.¹

In 2008, Seyfried was ranked #65 on the list of "The Annual Independent Critics List of the 100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World"³⁶ and was also placed #5 in Moviefone's "25 Under 25: Hollywood's Hottest Young Stars".³⁷ The following year the United Kingdom Glamour.com (of Glamour magazine) ranked Seyfried at the #17 spot as one of the "30 Hottest and Sexiest Stars Under 30".³⁸

In 2008, Seyfried was chosen to be the new ambassador for Movado.³⁹ In 2009, Seyfried ranked #2 on AIM's Top 100 Celebrities under 25.⁴⁰

Seyfried appeared alongside Kirsten Stewart, Blake Lively and Emma Roberts in the Vanity Fair's Young Hollywood New Waves July 2008 issue. And also appeared for the second time with Abbie Cornish, Rebecca Hall, Anna Kendrick, Carey Mulligan, Kristen Stewart, Emma Stone, Mia Wasikowska, and Evan Rachel Wood to the latest controversial cover issue of Vanity Fair's New Waves issue for March 2010.⁴¹⁴²

Seyfried is always quoted by many as a very talented actress. In her MOD interview, she admitted that one of her unusual talent is knitting and her co-star Channing Tatum revealed that Seyfried is a good painter as well.⁴³ Seyfried also plays the guitar, violin, and piano. In addition to singing and composing songs, her other special skills include: playing tennis and dancing.⁴⁴⁴⁵

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amanda Seyfried

• Amanda Seyfried at the Internet Movie Database
• Amanda Seyfried at TV.com
• Amanda Seyfried at NNDB