Amanda Seyfried On Hollywood, The Writers Strike And Her New ‘Make It Cute’ Business

With a celebrated Hollywood career now spanning two decades, there is no arguing that Amanda Seyfried has come a long way since Mean Girls. She played the popular high schooler Karen Smith in the beloved 2004 comedy, Meryl Streep’s ABBA-singing daughter Sophie Sheridan in 2008’s Mamma Mia! and Cosette in 2012’s Les Misérables.

More recently, Seyfried, 37, has taken on more and more complex characters as she has expanded her artistry into episodic storytelling, including with her Emmy-winning performance as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the 2022 Hulu series The Dropout and as investigator Rya Goodwin opposite Tom Holland in the 2023 Apple TV+ series The Crowded Room.

I recently sat down with Seyfried via Zoom from her east coast home, wondering what types of characters and storylines she seeks out most at this stage of her ongoing acting career.

“I’m hoping to really focus on inclusivity - that’s important. I just want to continue telling stories you haven’t seen yet or going a little deeper into stories that we haven’t seen enough of. So, when I find a project like that, I will go all the way into that. I want to play people who are different than I am. I want [to play] people who are considered ‘other’ because one of the benefits of acting is that your compassion level is just sky high for so many reasons, in order to do your job.”

Lately, Seyfried has noticed her priorities shifting since becoming a mother of two and has had to make some tougher professional decisions, while keeping her commitments at home in mind.

“My opportunities are wonderful and I’m so grateful for them, but also, I just have less time, so I really have to choose well. Whatever takes me away from the house and kids has to be life-alteringly good. It has to be interesting - it has to create some kind of impact for me or for society. It just has to make sense.”

Seyfried added, “I had to pass on something because it shoots in Finland and it’s all night shoots. It’s amazing with an amazing actor, and I was just like I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be good for the movie because I wouldn’t be good for me. I want to make things that are more impactful, in general - the greater good, as opposed to just doing selfish projects that really just fill my bucket, as my daughter would say.”

Back in May while she arrived at the Met Gala in a custom Oscar de la Renta mini dress, Seyfried spoke briefly to Variety’s Marc Malkin about the looming WGA writers strike at the time, saying, “Everything changed with streaming and everybody needs to be compensated for their work.”

Since that conversation, the writers strike began and has continued on, while SAG-AFTRA members have voted 97.91% in favor of authorizing their own strike, if a new contract deal cannot ultimately be reached by June 30 with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So, with everything going on, I asked Seyfried for her thoughts about these latest developments.

“Every once in a while, we need a revolution to overhaul and get everybody in the right space, in the right spot. The truth is, these streaming studios, these companies have gotten away with murder when it comes to taking what they’re not owed because of contracts, and it’s about time to pay up. It’s a fraction - the top of the top of the top of the people who just make so much on these subscriptions, what they [the writers] are asking for, what we’re going to ask for, it’s really not that much. It’s hard to negotiate - I get that. It’s hard to get justice. It’s hard to get what’s fair, it just is because people are afraid that it’ll open like a can of worms.”

Seyfried added, “The truth is, these things have to happen in order for everybody to want to continue to work and want to continue to share their talents and work hard. Sorry, but they need all of us. We make it together - it’s a collaboration. Everybody needs to be paid what they’re owed. It’s a very simple fact and they know that.”

In the meantime, Seyfried is keeping a close eye on her present and future, both professionally and personally, as she taps into a whole new industry with her newly launched “Make It Cute” kids playhouses. Founded alongside two of her life-long fellow mom friends, Anne Hoehn and Maureen North, whom Seyfried has known since kindergarten, “Make It Cute” was an idea that came to them while stuck at home during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We were complaining about the space and the fact that we were stuck in the space with our kids, and all three of us have two kids around the same age. The pandemic, you know, it was brutal for everyone for a lot of reasons, and one of the greatest things that came out of the pandemic was the ‘Make It Cute’ playhouse. It took a really long time. I can’t believe it’s here. It was not a dream of mine but it’s become a very passionate business venture.”

Manufactured and packed in the U.S. with 50% recycled materials and being 100% recyclable, these eco-friendly playhouses are priced at $220 each (free shipping), with design options from Cottage to Modern Farmhouse. Seyfried and her “Make It Cute” team have also partnered with EarthDay.org’s The Canopy Project, which will plant a tree for every playhouse purchased. So, how is Seyfried enjoying this new business differently from her usual Hollywood projects?

“It’s relating to other parents as a parent. I love talking to other people with kids about their experiences with their kids. I am a regular person and then my career kind of spotlights me in a way in the world that doesn’t reflect exactly who I am, so I’m always trying to press upon people who I am, and I feel very desperate for people to understand and know me. With ‘Make It Cute,’ when I’m out there talking to other parents and watching their kids interact with our playhouse, it’s very grounded. It’s the meeting of the minds, as opposed to me being an actor that they know from certain things. I’m somewhat removed in a way that I don’t feel like I am in this sense, and that’s been really nice.”