The last time Amanda Seyfried was at the Venice Film Festival to premiere a film was in 2017 for “First Reformed,” playing a parishioner in modern day New York. For her latest trip to the Lido, she’s gone back almost 300 years but has been upped to full-blown religious leader.
In “The Testament of Ann Lee,” premiering in Competition on Monday, she plays Ann Lee, the 18th-century founder of Christian sect the Shakers. Born in Manchester, England, Lee emigrated in 1776 with a small bunch of followers to the U.S. where, despite going through numerous personal traumas, helped establish a utopian society known for its sexual equality, utilitarian design, frenzied singing and celibacy (the latter ensuring Shaker numbers would eventually dwindle — just three currently remain).
From director Mona Fastvold — who co-wrote last year’s Venice-bowing awards darling “The Brutalist” with her partner Brady Corbet (who co-wrote this) — the film sees Seyfried sing on screen for the first time since “Mamma Mia 2.” But the actress isn’t quite sure it can be categorized as singing. “De-singing? Anti-singing?” Whatever it was, she admits the notes didn’t come easily, with the sometimes “animal sounds” she was was forced to make having been borne out of Lee’s “grief and desperation” rather than anything beautiful. To reach the right vocal point, she claims she had to “release my shit.”
Speaking to Variety, Seyfried discusses why she’d follow Lee — and Fastvold — anywhere, selfishly hoping “The Brutalist” would succeed in Venice to pave the way for this film, how Maxine Peake played a crucial role she doesn’t yet know about and her upcoming comedy with Sydney Sweeney: “I don’t know the last time I laughed that much.”
“The Testament of Ann Lee” has been described as a musical, but not actually a musical and a biopic, but not really a biopic. How would you describe the film?
It’s a celebration. It’s an experience. It’s unlike anything, so it is hard to describe for me as somebody who’s not very good at describing things. But it felt very brave, and it felt very scary. But once we were shooting that lifted.
Have you already seen it in full?
I watched an early cut. Brady [Corbet] couldn’t figure out how to get the computer to attach to their TV, so we watched the entirety of it on their iPad. Like three idiots.
Mona said to me she’d warned you about the film, saying you wouldn’t be paid anything, you’re going to work very hard, and it’s going to be a very uncomfortable experience. Was any of that true?
Not when it’s her. We all make decisions based on art and business, and you’re always walking the tightrope between the two. But we don’t need to be paid for every thing that we do, because at the end of the day, we’re all artists. Most artists want to be challenged and want to do something new and want to be part of something collaborative and avant-garde and all that stuff. But I was like, “Are you sure you want me, Mona, are you sure? Surely there are other younger British actresses who could nail the accent.” But she said: “God no, you can get this made for me!” I knew it was going to be hard. But Mona brings the same people around her. So I was like, yeah, I want to be part of the family and drink natural wine on the weekends.
You sing in this but it’s in a very different register to “Les Mis” and especially “Mamma Mia.” Did you stretch yourself, vocally?
Some of it was un-singing. There’s no such thing! De-singing? Anti-singing? A lot of it was animal sounds as opposed to melodic sounds. And it was less about listening to myself. In the studio in Budapest, I was hearing myself, but it was not happy-making — it was stressful, because I understood that I didn’t have to sound beautiful in a way that is beautiful to me. It was more like a woman on her knees. And it was fucking hard. We did the birthing song “Human Treasures” so many times because I had to release my shit, my ear, my needs, Amanda’s needs, in order to find the voice that held the passion, the rawness, the grief and the desperation. I realized it takes a long time for me to stop listening to myself when I’m singing. I can’t watch “Les Mis’ without thinking, “What the fuck was I doing?” I was listening to myself the whole time and hated it. Cosette was full of self-loathing because that was Amanda’s self-loathing, which is not the character of Cosette!
But did you enjoy singing again on screen?
I did. I love singing. And I love the way it makes me feel when I’m acting. After the first week in the studio working on the two main songs before we started shooting, it felt great because I understood exactly what it was and what Mona wanted. But I do remember Mona just laying on the floor with me and my dog [Seyfried’s nearly 16-year-old Australian Shepherd, Finn] in the studio in Budapest while I was singing and trying to get closer to Ann Lee’s grief!
There’s a sense of ambiguity over whether Ann Lee was divinely inspired or an opportunistic cult leader. Did you find yourself using the same muscles as you did playing Elizabeth Holmes?
No, not all all and that’s the thing — I would follow someone like Ann anywhere. Just like I would Mona. I didn’t feel it that way at all, because I felt there was nothing gained from it except community. She wasn’t trying to get rich by signing people up to Shaker classes. I think she had full conviction and believed that anyone who needed to be saved or wanted to join the community was absolutely welcome. It felt really clean. Like a utopia. There’s a big difference between [Lee and Holmes]. They’re both leaders, for sure, but the intention is everything. Ann’s intention never wavered. What a cool fucking woman!
How did you find doing Ann’s Mancunian accent?
Incredibly difficult. I had so many nightmares about people being like: What the fuck is she saying? My job is to keep you completely committed to the story. And my fear was that it wasn’t gonna work. Which is why I kept saying to Mona, don’t you want to get an English person?
Did you have any Mancunian inspirations to try and get the right tone?
Maxine Peake. She was my beacon. I just love knowing about where she grew up — she’s very culturally in the know and very passionate about where she’s from, which is Bolton. And the internet had her on a silver platter for me.
Does Maxine know of her crucial role in this film?
No! She doesn’t know that she is Ann Lee.
Mona said she had a quick two-day break from the “Ann Lee” production in Budapest to fly to Venice for the world premiere of “The Brutalist” with Brady.
Yeah, and Brady stayed and got the Silver Lion, we kept thinking: they’re paving the way for us! They’re two different animals — you’ve can’t compare ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘Ann Lee,’ but they’re both extraordinary and you hope that Venice sees that. We did think that it was a really good sign for us — is that selfish? But no, it was good. But it was exhausting for them.
I love how they’ve turned into this powerhouse indie filmmaking couple but have no interest in making anything other than their own films. It’s quite inspiring.
Absolutely, there’s no point in life if when you’re working you’re not doing what you want. And they’re always going to be celebrating independent film. As soon as a studio comes in for them, it’s not fun anymore. Studios are great for certain things — having the money to make something is great. But they’ve found ways to make these movies with really good artists who are willing to do it for barely a bean, and that’s a testament to the people who they are, the leaders that they are, the artists that they are. They keep bringing people back in. It’s very difficult to make an independent movie, but they’ve they figured it out.
Where do you go after “Ann Lee”? What have you got coming up next?
I want to do comedy so bad. So I have “The Housemaid” coming out. I have this huge tentpole movie coming out on Christmas Day, with Sydney Sweeney, and also “Ann Lee.” I don’t know how to explain “The Housemaid,” but we watched it the other night and I haven’t had that much fun in a theater — I don’t know the last time I laughed that much. And it was my own movie! I had such a ball making it and playing this wacky nutso character that no one has gotten to really see me do. It’s like a party, that movie. Honestly, I love it so much that I might actually creep out after Christmas dinner and go see it.
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