BIG Love
Amanda Seyfried on her HBO hit, Dear John & the agony of long-distance love
by Alex S. Morrison 
We first took notice of Pennsylvania-born Amanda Seyfried back in 2004, when the former model-turned-soap opera actress made her big screen debut with a supporting role in Mean Girls. But it was with 2008’s blockbuster Mamma Mia that she truly made her name, singing and dancing her way into audience’s hearts and more than holding her own opposite A-listers like Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth.
Whether locking luscious lips with Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body or mixing it up with her dysfunctional family on HBO’s Big Love, the 24-year-old cutie continually surprises, even singing a sweet song she wrote herself in her latest film, Dear John. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook), the melodrama about a woman left behind when her love (Channing Tatum) leaves for active duty in the Middle East showcases impressive emotional depth, promising bigger and better things to come.
We recently spoke with Seyfried via telephone (just after she visited the troops at Fort Bragg) to discuss her childhood, career, views on love and whether she’ll be back on Big Love next season.
What are some of your favorite memories of growing up in Allentown, PA?
Going to Dorney Park. I was a season pass holder for 4 years, so that was my whole adolescent existence. The Civic Theater, because I grew up going to studio classes there and that’s obviously where my love for acting flourished. Trecksler Park: I still go back there every time I’m home and run. It’s so beautiful, but it feels smaller every time I go back because I live in big cities now.
How do you think your career in Allentown help you prepare for when you moved to New York City and worked with the Wilhelmena Agency?
There wasn’t much modeling work to be had there. But I had learned about the business of modeling, so I wasn’t so surprised with everything [when I got to NY]. I think my mom was more surprised. It prepared my mom more than it prepared me. She really didn’t know what to expect, but she didn’t really hold my hand through it. She supported me and was my guardian for a while.
How do you think Dear John relates to couples getting married earlier? Do you think it will identify with people?
It’s rare to find love and make to it work, especially that young. College age kids are finding each other and it’s the whole challenge of actually realizing if this is the person I’m going to spend my whole life with. In our story, they met that young, it happens, it’s realistic and so that love can thrive if you let it.
These are pretty important roles to people with the war in Iraq. Did playing Savannah have an impact on you?
I have such a great appreciation for soldiers to begin with and now I really appreciate the sacrifice they’re making of leaving their loved ones as well. That’s a whole other story. Not only is it that you’re risking your life, but you’re also leaving what you have in the states and I think it bugs you for trying to make it work.
Have you ever received a love letter or a “Dear John” letter?
A love letter, yes, but not a Dear John letter. I got a love letter. It’s something I keep near and dear because it was the most romantic thing anyone’s ever written to me. It’s from an old boyfriend and I still read it. I feel like a princess when I read it. Someone went through all the effort to write it. It’s amazing.
Did that sort of letter in the film inspire you to feel that kind of passion?
Of course, I’ve had such good experiences in my life with my partners that I can connect to each and every one. I can remember back to the times when I really felt love and reflect that to the film. It’s pretty amazing, everything has influenced me in my life and the film. I‘ve just been really lucky.
In the real world, do you feel that this type of romance can work over such a long span of time?
I think it’s hard to stay connected when you have that much time apart, and that’s something you really fight. If you lose that battle, I still feel that if it’s meant to be it’s going to come back to you. Love exists like that all the time, and I definitely think that there is that one person in the world for everybody. I don’t know, but I think it’s completely possible.
Legendary veteran Richard Jenkins is in the film. What did you learn from him?
It’s funny, sometimes you get lost when you work with somebody like that. He researches a lot. He knows a lot about coins. He’s really funny, too. There is something really charming about his character and he has that in him as well. I sort of forgot that I was in a scene with him when he was explaining about these coins, and he was really just telling me. It’s as real as it can get. It does blow my mind to be working with people like that.
Tell us about your first teenage relationship.
It was a boy who I was obsessed with in a way when I was 14. He was a cross between Leo DiCaprio and Justin Timberlake in my eyes. He was a senior and I was a freshman and he wanted to date me. He was a friend of my sister’s. He thought I had a weird sophistication that my friends didn’t. We dated and I totally couldn’t deal with the fact that he liked me so much, so I dumped him. We went out like 3 months later and it was very strange. We’d go out to movies and hang out, but I didn’t feel I deserved to be loved the way he loved me and it was just a teenage insecurity. I lost a good one– he’s a great guy and so nice, and I thought he was so sweet for taking a chance on somebody younger. He was about 17 at the time.
How did you prepare for this role?
I recently met a bunch of women who are literally hanging and waiting for their husbands to come home. We were set at Fort Bragg. There are about 100 families there, with wives or fiancés telling me that their husband had just been deployed. It’s tough, and I would never really say that I understand. I’m not that brave to go without that connection for that long. They trust that these are the people they are meant to be with, so they will do anything. They’ll wait forever for somebody, and I think that is so beautiful.
If you were the director, would you keep the film’s ending the same?
I think I would make it happier. I was so depressed after I saw the first cut of the film.
What kinds of goals do you set when you’re choosing a new project?
It’s always got to be something different from the last. It’d be great to play an antagonist role. You’ve got to want the audience to really hate you. I also would like to do a period drama, something set in a time that I don’t really understand. That would be really amazing.
Were you on board immediately once you saw the script, or did it take some convincing?
It was already written. I had to audition a couple of times, but it was pretty clear to me that this is something I wanted to do. It was my first opportunity to play a romantic lead, and I knew Lasse Hallström’s work. The story was real. It’s a little bit different from what I’ve done. It’s darker and I like the character a lot.
So I recently read that you’re not doing Big Love anymore. What’s the career plan now?
Yeah, I’ve been working on it for 6 years and I really wanted to move back to New York. We shot for 5 months and I was only working 1-2 days a week. So the plan now is to keep working on films for a while. I’m definitely planning on going back to Big Love next year, just not every episode. I love that show, so I can’t say anything bad about it!
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