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Amanda Seyfried has revealed she was put in uncomfortable positions while on film sets in the pre-#MeToo era, including having to walk around ‘without underwear’ on.
The star, 36, said she wishes she could be starting out as a young actress now, at a time when intimacy coordinators are a regular presence on sets and actors are in a better position to speak up.
The mother-of-two admitted she didn’t complain about being put in certain situations because she ‘didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job’.
Speaking to PORTER magazine about her early career, Amanda said: ‘Being 19, walking around without my underwear on – like, are you kidding me?
Candid: Amanda Seyfried has revealed she was put in uncomfortable positions while on film sets in the pre-#MeToo era, including having to walk around ‘without underwear’ on
‘How did I let that happen? Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why.’
Amanda’s first foray into the limelight came in her early teens as a model, but gave up modelling when she was 17 to pursue a career in acting.
The screen star started off in soap operas such as As The World Turns and All My Children, before her big break came when she was cast in Mean Girls alongside Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams at the age of 18.
The actress, who recently starred as Elizabeth Holmes in the Hulu series The Dropout, said it’s ‘really important’ for actors to be confident on set.
She said: ‘Nothing can crush me completely, when it comes to work. I’m uncrushable! Not one thing can crush my life, unless it has to do with my family.
‘Obviously, being a parent changes your perspective on things, but it’s not just that. It’s finally coming to the point of, it’s okay to be proud of your work. It’s okay to be proud, it’s okay to have confidence – it’s actually really important.’
Changes: The star, 36, told how in some ways, she wishes she could be starting out as a young actress now, at a time when intimacy coordinators are a regular presence on sets and actors are in a better position to speak up
Interview: Speaking to NET-A-PORTER about her early career, Amanda said: ‘Being 19, walking around without my underwear on – like, are you kidding me?’
She added: ‘How did I let that happen? Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why’
Amanda added that despite working hard, she feels she has also enjoyed many ‘strokes of luck’ in her career and has no sense of entitlement when it comes to finding success.
She said: ‘I’ve never gone a day without feeling like I’ve worked really hard. I have no entitlement. I mean, I’m entitled to respect, I think; we all are.
‘But I have no entitlement issues. I have many strokes of luck and a lot of hard work and a lot of being in the right place at the right time. I understand all of that.’
Amanda’s portrayal of disgraced founder Elizabeth Holmes of the now liquidated healthcare company Theranos, was a kind of character acting she hadn’t played with in her career before, and it’s given her the taste for more.
Career: The actress, who recently starred as Elizabeth Holmes in the Hulu series The Dropout, said it’s ‘really important’ for actors to be confident on set
Success: Amanda added that despite working hard, she feels she has also enjoyed many ‘strokes of luck’ in her career and has no sense of entitlement when it comes to finding success
She said: ‘I’ve never gone a day without feeling like I’ve worked really hard. I have no entitlement. I mean, I’m entitled to respect, I think; we all are’
She added: ‘But I have no entitlement issues. I have many strokes of luck and a lot of hard work and a lot of being in the right place at the right time. I understand all of that’
She said: ‘You’ve done all this preparation and it’s muscle memory now; you’re already walking and talking differently, so you’re halfway there. Now, you just gotta have the emotion behind it as the character. It’s so fun.’
On her Emmy nomination for Lead Actress, she said: ‘It’s kind of surreal that we’re here now, that we got nominated, and I got nominated; I got singled out.
‘I didn’t spend any part of my career singled out, ever. [I had] no expectation of being singled out, and that’s partly my self-deprecating nature.
‘Never expecting anything great, preparing for the worst, but just continuing to walk on my path.’
Uncanny resemblance: In addition to nailing Holmes’ signature baritone voice, the actress said that achieving the disgraced Theranos founder’s appearance also a crucial part of her transformation in The Dropout
On working with show creator Elizabeth Meriwether, Amanda added: ‘With the help of an incredible group of writers, she wrote the perfect series.
‘There’s not one beat in there that feels like it doesn’t fit. It’s a miracle, that script, and the direction and the tone of it really worked.
She said: ‘I think it was really important, the tone, to make it feel real.’
To see the full interview, read PORTER at https://www.net-a-porter.com/porter/article-d9e2707ded45d21f. Or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Achievement: On her Emmy nomination for Lead Actress, she said: ‘It’s kind of surreal that we’re here now, that we got nominated, and I got nominated; I got singled out’