Amanda Seyfried had a busy end to 2025, with musical drama \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d and erotic thriller \u201cThe Housemaid\u201d releasing within days of each other. Though the films are \u201cvastly different,\u201d the star is proud that they have one thing in common: centering strong women.<\/p>\n
At a Berlin Film Festival press conference for \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d on Thursday before the film\u2019s Special Gala screening, Seyfried was asked about what attracts her to a project and the experience of starring in both films at the same time. Though Seyfried was not questioned point-blank about politics as many stars have been at this edition of the Berlinale, the reporter ended their question by asking Seyfried about the importance of quality in \u201cthese times when fascism is rising everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think about, what\u2019s worth leaving my kids for? And what\u2019s going to give me the opportunity as an artist to flex myself and to learn something about myself?\u201d Seyfried said. \u201cI mean, this particular project [\u2018Ann Lee\u2019] had quality all over it, and what I define as quality is a clear vision, and not necessarily a message but an exploration of someone\u2019s life through storytelling in a cinematic atmosphere with a real edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seyfried continued that though Paul Feig\u2019s \u201cThe Housemaid\u201d \u2014 which co-stars Sydney Sweeney and has become a box office hit \u2014 is \u201cvastly different\u201d in content and the experience of filming, it was \u201calso incredibly fun and let me flex myself and my artistic needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot in the same way necessarily, but it was very fruitful for me personally,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd at the end of the day, I think both \u2014 I\u2019m gonna say this \u2014 I love the fact that they\u2019re both about strength of character, women with needs and who are activated by those needs and by the need for equality and safety in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seyfried concluded that she\u2019s \u201c100% behind both movies\u201d and is \u201cthrilled that they came out around the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot just because they were so dynamic for me as an actor but because they do say something,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a different kind of genre with a different kind of appeal to different kinds of people. But women are showing up at the theater because we\u2019re making movies for women.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d team, including Seyfried, director and writer Mona Fastvold, composer Daniel Blumberg and producer Andrew Morrison were on hand at the Berlin press conference. The movie first premiered in competition at Venice Film Festival in September and released theatrically in the U.S. on Dec. 25 and the U.K. on Feb. 20.<\/p>\n
The historical drama stars Seyfried as Ann Lee, the \u201cfounder of the Shaker religious community who preached gender equality and social justice and was revered by her followers,\u201d according to its offiical synopsis. \u201cThe film captures the ecstasy and anguish of her quest for utopia and presents more than a dozen historic Shaker hymns, reinterpreted and choreographed with impressive intensity.\u201d Alongside Seyfried, \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d stars Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Abbott.<\/p>\n
Though \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d missed out on any Oscar nominations, Seyfried was nominated for best actress in a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes and Critics\u2019 Choice Awards. The film received largely positive reviews, with Variety\u2018s Guy Lodge<\/a> writing: \u201cIt has an earnest, full-hearted sweep, in large part thanks to a performance of redoubtable commitment and nerve-deep feeling by\u00a0Amanda Seyfried\u00a0\u2014 far from the musical terrain of either \u2018Mamma Mia!\u2019 or \u2018Les Mis\u00e9rables,\u2019 but fully in command of her gifts.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amanda Seyfried had a busy end to 2025, with musical drama \u201cThe Testament of Ann Lee\u201d and erotic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[144361,21563,109418,321,93,61,60,21565,1997],"class_list":{"0":"post-306784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-alongside-seyfried","9":"tag-amanda-seyfried","10":"tag-ann-lee","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-the-housemaid","16":"tag-the-testament-of-ann-lee"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}