Amanda Michelle Seyfried (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 11, and at 15 began her career as an actress, starting off with uncredited roles and moving on to recurring roles on As the World Turns and All My Children.
In 2004, Seyfried made her film debut in Mean Girls. Her subsequent supporting roles were in independent films, such as Nine Lives (2005) and Alpha Dog (2006). She also had a recurring role in the UPN TV show Veronica Mars (2004–2006). Between 2006 and 2011, she was onHBO's series Big Love. After that, Seyfried appeared in her breakthrough role in the 2008 musical feature film Mamma Mia!. Other appearances include leading roles in Jennifer's Body (2009), Chloe (2009), Dear John (2010), Letters to Juliet (2010), Red Riding Hood(2011), and In Time (2011). She is scheduled to play Linda Lovelace in the biopic Lovelace and Cosette in Les Miserables, both to be released in 2012.
Seyfried was born in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania on December 3, 1985.[1] Her mother, Ann (née Sander), is an occupational therapist, and her father, Jack, is a pharmacist. She has German ancestry.[1][2][3] Seyfried graduated in 2003 from Allentown's William Allen High School.[4] Seyfried has an older sister, Jennifer Seyfried, who is a musician in the Philadelphia organ-driven rock band, Love City.[1][5]
During Seyfried's time modeling, she appeared in print ads for clothing companies including Limited Too with Leighton Meester.[1] She stopped modeling when she was seventeen.[1] Seyfried took voice lessons, studied opera, and trained with a Broadway coach while still a teen. She began acting as an uncredited extra in the daytime drama television seriesGuiding Light.[6] From 2000 to 2001 she portrayed the recurring character Lucy Montgomery on the television show As the World Turns.[6] From 2002 to 2003 Seyfried played the recurring role of Joni Stafford on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) broadcasted show, All My Children.[7]
In 2003 Seyfried auditioned to play the role of Regina George in Mean Girls; the role eventually went to Rachel McAdams. While she was initially considered to play the lead role of Cady Heron, played by Lindsay Lohan, the producers of the film decided that Seyfried should play Karen Smith, Regina's dim-witted "Plastic" friend and sidekick.[6][8] The film was a box-office success, earning over $129 million in its theatrical run.[9] 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".[10] Seyfried auditioned to play the title character on UPN's television series Veronica Mars.[6] The role eventually went to Kristen Bell, and Seyfried portrayed the title character's murdered best friend, Lilly Kane.[6] Her character was only shown in flashbacks.[6] The show's creator, Rob Thomas, felt that Seyfried's portrayal as Lilly Kane was so outstanding that he used her more times in the show than he initially planned in the first season.[11] Seyfried appeared in ten episodes from 2004–2005.[7]
In 2005 Seyfried played the lead character, Samantha, a role written by director Rodrigo García specifically for her, in one of the nine parts in the film Nine Lives, composed of nine short films with different themes and an ensemble cast.[12] For her performance in the film, Seyfried, along with the film's other female leads, won an award from the Locarno International Film Festival, for Best Actress.[13] The same year she played supporting character, Mouse, in the independent film, American Gun.[7] In 2006 Seyfried appeared in five episodes of Wildfire as Rebecca and had lead role as Chrissy in the short film titled Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, by writer-director Andrea Janakas. Seyfried also contributed a minor role as Julie Beckley inAlpha Dog. From 2004 to 2006 Seyfried made multiple guest appearances on television series, including House, M.D., Justice, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, American Dad! andCSI: Crime Scene Investigation.[6]
Seyfried's profile gained prominence due to her role in the highly acclaimed HBO drama television series, Big Love. The series centers 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, as Seyfried wished to focus on her film career and upcoming projects.[15]
Following Big Love Seyfried had a supporting role, as Zoe, in the 2008 horror drama film, Solstice, and she co-starred alongside Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!, a romantic comedy film adaptation of the 1999 musical of the same name.[5] Mamma Mia! was Seyfried's first leading role. The film was the fifth highest grossing film of 2008,[16] and as of March 2010 is the 49th highest grossing film of all time.[17] Her musical performance in Mamma Mia! was released on the film's soundtrack, for which she recorded five songs.[18] 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)".
In March 2008 Seyfried was cast in the comedy horror film, Jennifer's Body.[19] In the film Seyfried was cast 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, atEdinburgh International Film Festival, and was officially shown in US theaters April 25, 2010.[22] On February 22, 2009, Seyfried presented an award and performed at the 2009 Annual 81st Academy Awards ceremony.[23] In early March 2009 director Zack Snyder had tapped Seyfried to portray the lead role, Baby Doll, in Sucker Punch,[24] but Seyfried had to drop out of the film due to scheduling conflicts with Big Love.[1][25]
Seyfried starred alongside Channing Tatum in Dear John, the film adaptation of the novel of the same name, that was written by Nicholas Sparks.[26][27] The film was released on February 5, 2010, and received generally negative reviews,[26][27] Seyfried wrote and recorded "Little House", a song which appears on one of the official soundtracks of Dear John.[28]Despite the reviews, Dear John became the first film to break up Avatar's box office reign at number one at the United States box office and grossed $80 million in the US theatrically and $115 million worldwide.[29][30]
Seyfried appeared as the title character in the erotic thriller Chloe, theatrically released by Sony Pictures Classics on March 26, 2010.[31] Chloe originally premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2009.[32] In the film, Seyfried's character is an escort/prostitute who is hired to test a husband, because his wife feels that she cannot trust his fidelity.[32] Chloehad enjoyed commercial success and became director Atom Egoyan's biggest moneymaker ever.[33] Seyfried's performance in the film also received favorable reviews from critics; it also helped her to gain more industry acclaim and receive more opportunities to play more interesting roles.[34]
Later in 2010 Seyfried starred in the romantic-comedy film Letters to Juliet, based on the book by Lise and Ceil Friedman, which was released to mixed reviews and was a box office success, generated $80 million worldwide. In 2010 she was named, and received an award as, the "Showest Breakthrough Female Star of The Year".[35] She also won the "Scared-As-S**T" category 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.[36][37] Also in 2010, she was included in Forbes's "The 17 Stars To Watch" list,[38][39] received 3 nominations in the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Actress Drama and Choice Movie Chemistry with her co-star Channing Tatum for their movie Dear John. Seyfried was also nominated for Choice Movie Actress Romantic Comedy for Letters to Juliet.[40]
In late January 2009 she became attached to appear in Myriad Pictures' adaptation of Oscar Wilde's comedy A Woman of No Importance.[41] The film is set to be released in 2011.[dated info][41][42] In 2010, however, reports indicated that the film might not happen due to lack of financing.[43] Although it was confirmed in 2009 that she would appear in the movie,Albert Nobbs, she ultimately dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Mia Wasikowska.[44] Seyfried plays the starring role of Valerie in Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood. It was released on March 11, 2011 to mostly negative reviews but was a moderate box office success, earning $90 million worldwide on a $42 million budget. She also played the lead role of Sylvia Weis in Andrew Niccol's In Time, released in October 2011 to mixed reviews but with great box office receipts, grossing more than $140 million dollars worldwide.
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