Interview: Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee

In Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, Amanda Seyfried delivers the kind of performance that is steeped in considerable restraint and conviction, embodying the Shaker leader not as a distant historical figure but as a woman shaped by faith, doubt, and visionary resolve. Hymning herself to the brink of spiritual exhaustion and public exposure, Seyfried’s Ann embodies the strain imposed by patriarchal structures, capturing the fragile tension between spiritual authority and human vulnerability. She was indeed a radical and this performance feels intimate, lived-in, deeply physical and transcendental. After having worked on the TV series Long Bright River just prior, Fastvold and Seyfried moved onto this expansive shoot. On a long media tour (including a cool segment on CBS Sunday Morning) I had the chance to throw a couple of questions to the actress who nabbed a Golden Globe Award nom for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Searchlight Pictures releases The Testament of Ann Lee on Christmas day.