Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Amanda Seyfried

Episode Date: April 11, 2021

Amanda Seyfried began her career as a teenager riding the bus back and forth between her hometown of Allentown, Pennsylvania and New York City for auditions. Then in 2004, she shot to fame in the hit movie Mean Girls playing the memorably ditzy Karen. In this week’s “Sunday Sitdown,” Willie Geist talks to the star about her career since then, including roles in Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables, and her latest Oscar-nominated performance in the acclaimed film Mank. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks, as always, for clicking and listening along. I've got another Oscar nominee for you this week. She is Amanda Seifred. You know or you love her from movies like Mean Girls, two Mamma Mia films where she played Sophie. Those movies grossed together more than a billion dollars at the box office. She was in Les Miserables.

She was in Ted 2. Depending on your taste in movies, she can do just about anything. And now she stars in Mank, the Netflix movie that has 10 Oscar nominations leading the pack, including one for Amanda for Best Supporting Actress. She plays real-life 1930s film star Marion Davies, who was in movies, but also known as the mistress and longtime companion of media magnate William Randolph Hearst. So the movie Mank is about the making of the film, the writing of the film Citizen Kane, which was based on the life, loosely perhaps, or closely, of William Randolph Hearst.

So she'll explain the premise of the movie, how it all ties in, how it works. She's amazing, and it's black and white, directed by David Fincher. You'll hear Amanda talk about what an honor it is, just to be asked to be in a movie by David Fincher. He's done seven, Fight Club, Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He did House of Cards, the series on Netflix. Really good work, and actors just want to work with him. She was thrilled to be asked to be in it and now, of course, to be nominated for an Oscar. A little bit of background for you here.

As you've come to know, I am in a room above my garage. Amanda is home with her family on her farm in upstate New York. Real farm. Horses, donkeys, pigs, ducks, chickens, turtles, all kinds of animals. She says she feeds them twice a day. Now, she's also the mother of two very young children, including a six-month-old boy. So she's been a little bit busy with that, but she's out in her barn doing the interview. I'm above my garage.

You'll hear in the background some Google Gagaiing, and that is from her six and a half month old son. Her mother is there helping look after the kids. Her husband, also an actor, is down in Georgia shooting a movie. So they're kind of juggling it all. And at one point, the little boy just comes and sits on mom's lap. It's amazing. he's she's literally quite literally juggling motherhood with her career so i hope you enjoy amanda cipherd as much as i did talking to her she's so cool so smart really fun right now on the

sunday sit down podcast oscar nominated actress amanda cypherd Amanda simord Amanda it's good to see you thanks for doing this thanks for having me uh i was telling you a moment ago that you've already whatever happens at the Oscars received the award from our crew for most technically adept actress in one of our interviews. You set up your cameras, you got the lights, the audio. It was an Amanda Seiford production. Thanks. I'm going to actually take a picture. It is, I'm, it's pretty, it's, I'm very impressed. Did some directing, some cinematography. This is, this is what happens when you're, how much better adept are we at everything? Because we're doing it alone, especially people who are

in this business. happening we have all these people to do our technical the technical jobs on a set on a junket yeah and here we are we have to do it ourselves and we are that much smarter are you enjoying the the reality of just kind of like being at home and doing press at home or is that a strange thing that you'd like to get back to real life or do you like doing business this way well it's a you know there's some benefits and there's some serious drawbacks which I will name first. They squeeze in so much more work.

Oh, so in 15, since you don't have to get in the car and drive to the next studio, we will set up another six interviews for you for the rest of the day. And you definitely have to change your outfit after each one. Is that the worst thing in the world? Of course not. The benefits outweigh everything. I've got my kids over in the house. so great that I don't have to get in the car and go anywhere or get into a plane, for

matter. I mean, that's, that was my life. I was always leaving. I've also found for our purposes, when I interview people, I'd much rather be sitting down with you somewhere and talking, obviously, but, and you can tell me if I'm wrong about this, the guests can be more comfortable because you are at home. You just came from lunch with your kids or whatever you were doing. You just plop down and kind of start talking. You don't have to go into this sort of artificial setting and talk to people. Yeah, the temperature is just right. You've got your creature comforts.

And, I mean, no free food, of course, which is a bummer. You'll send me something. It's, yeah, I mean, listen, I do miss the cappuccinos on the hour every hour. But I am, I'm also not taking beta blockers before interviews. Really? Because I'm comfortable. Yeah, I have stage fright. And sometimes I, like, when I,

go on the Today Show, for instance, I have to take a beta, or I believe I have to take a beta blocker. So I did. And whatever it does, whether it's placebo or not, my heart rate stays somewhat normal. I don't know how you do what you do. I really don't. I find that so interesting. And I think people watching this will find it interesting because you've talked about struggling with anxiety.

You seem so comfortable wherever you are doing what you do so easy in your own skin, whether it's in a movie or in an interview. You're always funny and charming and all those things. but you've had this sort of long struggle with anxiety, haven't you? Yeah, it feels like life or death. That's what a panic attack is. Really, your body just goes into fight or flight. And as much as you can understand that from an outside perspective

when you're not struggling with it, it's real. It becomes so incredibly real when it's happening to you. And the adrenaline rush, the endorphin rush and the dump that happens after you, after the panic attack is so extraordinary. It's like it's like being high in some way. You just feel so relieved and your body is just kind of recovered in a way. It's so bizarre because it's all, it is physiological, but it is, it starts in your head. Yeah. And you would think someone like you who's been doing it.

this a while now. You say, oh, this is the Today Show. I've done the Today Show. I know I can do the Today Show. This is Fallon. I've done Fallon. I know I can do Fallon. But it really never goes away, does it? It never goes away. And I've, I've, there are, I have found healthier ways to cope. I can't have whiskey at 7 a.m. in the morning. Why not? Says boo. Really, that's true. Just a little taste. You're right. I don't think about that. You're right. I should be less responsible. No, I'm less terrified is what it is, really. I mean, yeah, it's, it's, it's, I keep doing it. I keep getting, getting there. But I, this pandemic has definitely made it much harder for me to envision myself going back into the studio. I love coming to the Today Show. It's really exciting. There's always great fans and there's people milling around and it's just an exciting place to be Rockbiller Center. And I, as much as I, I, I like the, show, I, I like the day show. those aspects, it's just sometimes not worth it if I'm just not, if I'm not feeling it,

if I'm too scared. So, you know, it's live. You know, it's live. Anything can happen. It's unpredictable. And people love watching it. But, but my biggest fear is always something that's never going to happen. Like, my biggest fear is that I'm going to faint. That seems unlikely. It is. It's totally unlikely. Did you know? I have learned that it's unlikely. I did a, I did a play. It was my first play off Broadway. I met my husband there, actually, and it was just the two of us. And it was one of the most exciting times of my life and the most terrifying because I had to make that decision every night to just mind over matter,

just to power through and find the moments. The whole reason as actors we do theater is to really live in something and come alive and portray these characters in front of a live audience. It's everything if you allow it to be positive. And I had to make a choice whether or not I was going to sabotage my experience every night. And I would have panic attacks. I had about seven. Oh.

And it was the moment where am I going to flee? Am I going to have these 250 people just miss out on the show that they've paid to come see? Or am I going to just get over myself and as hard as it is because you can't? You're talking about any mental illness or panic disorder. sort of whatever it is. You can't just tell someone, get over it, be happy. That's not helpful. And it's not possible. But it is mind over matter and you have to just breathe through it. And when you do and you get to the side of it in front of an audience full of people, it is so empowering. And so you have to sometimes go through those moments in order to get to that point.

And I want to be empowered as hard as it is. I want to be empowered. powered and I'm going to go back on on Fallon and Kim. I'm going to do it all in person. But I'm pretty thrilled to be sitting in my guest barn. Well, it does seem to me like the place where you're sitting right now is your happy place,

your comfort zone, where you can be with your husband and you can be with your young children, you can be with your animals. And the fact that you live where you live so far removed from the business where you work, was that something conscious for you? just to remove step out of it when you're not in it? Yes, it was very conscious.

I've always wanted to be within nature. I've always wanted to live on a farm. When I was able to afford to move into my own house up here, as tiny as it is, it just made me feel like I had some control. I have some control issues. I definitely suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder. and everything that comes along with that is just,

I just need to feel grounded somewhere that I can trust will always be there, that it's not contingent on somebody else. And luckily for me, I married someone who really appreciates where I've come to find myself, and he feels the same way about the farm. And that's just so lucky. And so we can build a life together here.

and it means the same to him as it does to me. So that was really important. And we just keep getting more animals. As long as we have this space for them, we will continue to find ourselves with another goat or another duck, which is fine because they're much easier to deal with. But it's my sanctuary. It's always what I wanted and one I could afford it.

That's what I did. Are you actually Amanda out there tending to the animals? people want to know with Gus, the donkey, and with all the animals that are out there? Yep. Now that I have my son, before I was, I gave birth, I was, before I got very pregnant, I was doing one or two of the feeds a day. There are two feeds. And sometimes I'll give my caretaker Shannon, who is, really just makes me feel like I can survive because this is everything to me. And when I leave, I have to leave. I was in Georgia for two months with my husband working and I did leave. And she's So she, I don't know if you can hear the gator.

Probably can't because I have this mic on. But, you know, she's feeding both days. But yeah, I have to understand the flow. If I've left for two months, there's always something that's changed. I have to know what everybody needs when they need it because otherwise it doesn't feel, you don't feel safe. Something were to go wrong, there were a lot of calls I'd have to make. And if at least I know what they need when they need it, the kind of medicine, what to look for,

what kind of hay they like, what kind of hay they don't like. where to get that. It's just, it's the only thing I haven't done is I have not picked up the feed from the feed store ever. Those bags are heavy and Shannon seems to enjoy it. He's been here. She was at this farm long before I came. So yeah, it's a, it's a control thing, but it's also this is, you have these animals, learning how to take care of them, learning to be responsible for them is a big, it's a privilege, but it's also, it's a good lesson and it also keeps you grounded. When all this stuff was happening last year, I still had to get up and feed. Nothing changed for them.

These guys didn't notice a virus coming in and sweeping us out. Also, I'm going to teach my kids to feed. So when they're old enough, I'm not going to have to get up. There you go. Just to keep expanding the family. I had them. To staff up. Well, you've been incredibly busy.

Obviously, congratulations on the birth of your son. Seven months old, I think, something like that now. Oh, yeah, six and a half months old. So not only you have the animals, you've got your own little babies on the farm with you there, and you've been nominated for an Oscar for Mank. Congratulations. Incredible. You've done a lot in Hollywood.

You've been in massive movies that people love and what. will remember forever, but this is something new for you. What does it feel like to be nominated for an Academy Award? It's funny. There are certain things I work really hard for, like getting certain roles. And every great moment when I found out that I have gotten something that I've worked really hard to get. For instance, Mamma Mia, Les Mis, Mean Girls, I've had that shock and awe and excitement

and just pure. adrenaline, just moments that just they happen and you'll never forget what you were thinking where you are, what you were wearing, what your temperature was, you know? And this is one of those moments that I didn't, I didn't do one thing and I didn't try to get it. It wasn't like I was it's just, it's different. It's not like a job. It's a, it's a recognition. It's an, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a an achievement that I didn't set out to expect or even, I was never desperate for it, because that can really alter how you behave and how you walk through life. I just wanted to work.

I wanted longevity. That's like, that's the key. Just want to keep working. Yeah. It's more livelihood as well. You got to pay for that feed. Yeah. I got to pay for that feed.

I'm getting a new garage, hopefully. cars can go inside a building. But yes, it's so, it's a long way to, I mean, I'm, but it's why we're here. It's a different kind of feeling. I know, but you're going to have to cut the crap out of me. It's the feeling of getting an achievement that I wasn't looking for, that I never dreamed of, that I am absolutely accepting of. If it hadn't happened, that's okay.

I prepared myself. But I'm really glad it happened because it does. It opens the door. It just opens the door wider in terms of opportunities. And that's what it's about. I came into this business looking for opportunities. I'm continuing to want and need opportunities in order to do different things in order to be fulfilled.

And David Fincher gave me the opportunity and put me, in a place where people were going to pay attention in a way they haven't because he's David Fincher. It just doesn't, listen, it hasn't really hit me yet. It hasn't really sunk in. I'm not sleeping much these days. In fact, I was sleeping when my mom came down and told my mom lives with her. She's our nanny and told me that I'd gotten the nomination. Wow. Because I was like, I'm going to sleep. Between 7 and 8.30 is my sleeping time because my son feeds around 7. if I'm lucky, and then we fall back to sleep. So I'm going to celebrate.

I'm going to the Oscars as a nominee. What a moment to have your mom knock on the door, too. That was deliberate. I left my phone on silent, and I did not put on my alarm because I need that sleep. And if I didn't get the nomination, then I would have been able to maybe sleep till nine. Maybe. So I needed to know I was I was taking care of either way. And also to give my mom the opportunity to give me some news. She hasn't gotten to do that in a long time, the good news I mean. Any news. It's much sweeter coming from my mother. Sure. Now was it like a screaming mom,

oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, or was she poised or how did she handle the news herself? My publicist was my publicist and agent were in her ear on her on the phone because she was already awake. And she came down, she was like, you cut it! And I woke up when I was like. And then I laid back down and I had to, you know, take care of business. That's amazing. That's incredible. We should explain to people why being asked by David Fincher is such an amazing moment for an actor and why it's so special.

For people who don't know, he's got a very specific way of making films. seven, you know, he's done social network, fight club. There's a long list of movies and shows that he's done. But what is it about him that when he called you and said, I think I'd like you to be in my film that got you so excited? Why is that such a big deal? David Fincher is a master. He is, whether or not he trusts himself, I'll never know.

But it sure seems like he trusts himself. And when you have a director who knows exactly what he wants and who really trusts in his or her instincts, you really can't go wrong. No matter what happens, no matter what is made at the end of the day, you can come away with knowing that you're helping create someone's story and tell the story in a very specific way. And just having that kind of solidity in who you are and what you're making is so beautiful. and I just want to be around people like that. Also, when David Fincher talks, creates, people listen. They want to see what he's doing next because nothing he does is on accident. And it's always beautiful.

And it's always, it always has quite an impact for artists and for his, you know, the audience. And so when I, when he asked me to be part of this movie, I was shocked because my first spot was, I didn't know that David Fincher knew who I was. Okay. And if he's hiring me to play Marion Davies, which is not a small thing, he must like my work and trust me. So that was a huge turning point for me. Not that I need people, not that I desperately need their approval, but it really weighs heavy when you do get it. And so his approval weighed very heavily on me and as terrified as I was to go on the vet and to portray her. I also, I knew he knew that I could do it.

And it really helped me feel like I could too. And plus Gary, Gary Oldman, he sure knows how to. That's the bar very high. Gary sets the bar very high and you are able to. Reach it. Yeah. I've heard you say a couple of times, Amanda, that before David came to you and sort of blew your mind by asking to be in this film, you've gotten lazy in some way in terms of how

you take roles and what roles you take. What did you mean by that exactly? You mean you'd sort of settled into this is my career. These are the kind of parts I play and not even considered the possibility of something like this, or what do you mean when you say that? What I mean is I... It comes down very, it's very simple really, which is why it feels even worse. We have a friend in the room?

We have a friend. My husband's working, Georgia. My mother just went up to go pick up my daughter and Genevieve, my incredible makeup artists. He's just hanging with my guy. He's okay. Yeah, I think, lazy. To put it simply, I wasn't memorizing lines the way I could have. I didn't know them in my bones.

Like the way I knew in my lines when I was on stage. I didn't know them that well. I would learn them in the makeup trailer. And a lot of people do that. And there's nothing wrong with it. It's just you're getting acquainted with the story in a way that could definitely affect your performance. I rely too much on my instincts and my need to make things feel really real in the moment. And sometimes that meant not knowing the lines perfectly so it can feel like I'm searching

for them. And that's like an actor thing that I was using that excuse maybe to a point where it wasn't, it wasn't being very helpful. And I wasn't giving it my best. And I would just get used to playing myself in certain roles, not everything. It's not been like that for every single project, but I did find myself doing that a lot. And sometimes even wanting to go home.

And that only started after I started having kits. Sure. And so that's a sign of needing to be a little bit more specific about what I do, a little bit more choosy. Because I don't want to be away from them. and if I'm going to be away from them, it's because I want to work and I want to feel, you know, hi.

Hello. Hi. Yes. Yes. I know. Okay. I knew this was going to happen. And I said to my mom, it's okay.

It's taped. See, this is the call, right? This is what draws you back home. This is exactly what you're talking about right now. You wanted to get home. I know that feeling. There's something happens. I have two kids too.

I always say you get this homing beacon inside you where if you were traveling or doing something where you might stay an extra day or see a friend or you just go, nope, when's the next flight? And it just happens. It just happens. Exactly. Yeah, my husband just surprised my daughter for Easter. And he was in Georgia and it was like, you know, two flights on Southwest and last minute

and it was tough and, you know, just to make sure he makes his flights because we've got a lot of storms, you know, this time, we have storms all the time everywhere now, actually, by the way. And, you know, he, you may just make it happen. There's no point of being there. There's just no, you don't, you don't end up partying with your co-stars as much. And, and you miss it a little bit, but you just want to go, go home. And so I don't want to, I would like to prevent myself from being on a set and wanting to go home. I like to be able to compartmentalize a little bit, enjoy where I'm at with the people I'm with playing a part that I love and that I'm going to just get so much out of and then being able to go home and have a weekend and just do it like

people do it and not not feel like there are any regrets because I just I don't want to I don't want to I don't want to miss them too much and I but I also yeah and I'm not going to be lazy and that's a promise I made to myself and that's um a lesson I needed to learn Well, it's a cliche, but you'll never regret a minute you spend with your kids. If you race home, you miss something on the set. The cliche is true about that one, for sure. So the film is nominated for 10 Oscars, leads the way of all movies this year, including your nomination. It's such an interesting and rich and true story.

So you're probably better at explaining it at this point than I would be. So just basically, what is the story of Mank and how does Marion fit into it? Mank is the story of Herman Mankowitz, who was the original, the screenwriter for Citizen Kane. And he wrote the first draft before Orson Wells kind of took it and fiddled with it, if you will. And we didn't really know much about him. Some of us have heard the name Mankowitz, of course. And it wasn't because of Herman so much as because of Joe or, you know, Herman's grandsons. And it's, he just was such an interesting man.

And he knew he was a critic and a writer. And he knew all these incredible people in the Golden Age. And he was friends with Marian Davies. And Citizen Kane is really inspired by the relationship that Herman Menkowitz had with William Randolph-Hurst. and his quote-unquote mistress, really his life partner. Yeah. Only because he couldn't, his wife, Hurst's wife didn't want to divorce him officially.

Marion was his partner and I got a chance with Mank. Well, first, Gary got, Gary and David's father who wrote the script, David, Jack Venture wrote the script of Mank, you know, to show the story of how it came to be. Citizen Kane is one of the best films ever made. And it's really fascinating what it's about and why it exists. And for me, playing Marion Davies, I got an opportunity, coffee machine. I got an opportunity to redesign this legacy of this incredible woman

who had many contributions to the arts, to filmmaking, to the golden age of Hollywood. She was a philanthropist. She was very generous with her money. She never took from Hearst. I mean, she would, she had property. She would give her properties, but she billed him out once.

She gave him a million dollars. And, you know, she was just this, she was really this winsome, effervescent character. And the fact that I get to help reclaim that for her. is it's like we're walking together on this Oscar campaign. You know, like I'm getting this recognition that I've never had before and it feels so good. And I'm also getting it for a role that changed my career.

You know, it kind of changed, paved a new way for me. And I also got to bring Marion in, where maybe she brought me in to the spotlight a little bit. I don't know. I don't know where it is, where, you know, I don't know who's helping who,

but I certainly had a nice time walking with Mary and Davies on this journey. And I've never gotten to talk about any character this much in my life. We really are like buddies. There's got to be something cool about playing someone who existed and sort of carrying her along with you and thinking maybe about what she must be thinking as you get an Oscar nomination playing her

or maybe sort of tweaking you somewhere and saying, no, I wouldn't say it that way or do it that way. But as you say, there is this sort of, if you look through history, a cartoon version of who she was, mainly because of the character and Citizen Kane, which doesn't quite line up,

as you point out in the movie, with who she actually was. That's the thing that's clouded her legacy for so many years. it only gets worse. It's like playing telephone. You're just, there's no sharp the image of her anymore. And unless you really go looking. And luckily, Jack Fincher did. He went looking and he did all his research on Meg and on Marion, who is a supporting piece of this story, this beautiful story. And really, in some ways, that kind of brings love.

to make, I think. And that's what I saw on the script. And I wanted to do that justice. But yeah, it's really incredible how we see people in our, in our minds from what we've been told and from a memory and from movies. Hey, guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Amanda Seifred right after the break. Welcome back to the Sunday Sit Down podcast. now more of my conversation with Amanda Seifred.

I do want to ask you, you mentioned your mom about growing up in Allentown and how you get from Allentown with, I think, no connection whatsoever to show business to becoming one of the biggest movie stars in the world. A few stops in between, but first going to New York, what was the first draw away from Allentown

and those first steps into modeling and acting? I honestly, what is it about modeling that is so, exciting. You see models on TV and you see these young actresses on full house and you're, you want to know more. You want to be a part of it. You feel left out. And I think I was so close to Manhattan. It felt it felt very far away for me when I was now, when I was little. But I think I just, my cousin, a second cousin of mine was modeling locally and I thought, how fun would that be if I could do that too. So I had an agency that was local and then they sent me to New York at one point

on a go see, I guess, to meet a modeling agency and I signed with little Mina models in New York as a kid and I was doing Vogue Ninos and Vogue the other Italian kids Vogue because they had Vogue for kids which is just Mambini, Vogue Bambini. And I was just doing little editorial shoots for God knows, 300 bucks, buying candy with it. And then Willamina started sending me out on auditions for Warner Brothers pilots. And that's it. I was just, every time they called, I would come,

I would leave school at 12, 1230, get the 1 o'clock bus. We'd be rushing. Sometimes we'd stop at Burger King or Wendy's or McDonald's or something to grab some food. And my mom would have a half day. She was an occupational therapist up until four years ago, when I had a daughter was born. and she would take me and we would go until I was old enough to go by myself. I think I got my first apartment when I was 16, 17. And I graduated when I was 17.

And yeah, I just, New York became this place where dreams were made. And I don't, I don't, yeah, I, it carried me through. I mean, I had my fair share of rejections and I was playing tennis, all four years in high school, I was terrible.

But I was passionate about it. And I was passionate about my job as a waitress in a retirement home. And I remember one time missing the bus to come back home after an audition. It was a one o'clock bus comes in a 245 at every 3.30 or 4 o'clock audition. And I would get home on the 4.30 or the 5. And I wanted to be home for work. And I missed the bus and I was devastated because I wasn't going to get to work on time. I had moments where I just wanted to be a kid and be in high school, and luckily I got to do both.

I didn't miss my childhood by modeling and acting on the weekends or, you know, a Wednesday or a Friday when I missed science class or dance class. You know what I mean? It just was ideal. I am so lucky that I didn't miss out and I still got to explore the business in that way with my mother or my grandmother if she couldn't get out of work. So you find yourself in soap operas. And then you talk about this role in David Fincher film changing your life and the trajectory of your career. All of a sudden here comes mean girls, which is probably the one that set the whole thing off. Is that fair to say?

Yeah. It was between that and going to Fordham, I mean at Fordham at Lincoln Center. Yep. Communications part-time. I got fired from or let go, whatever they say. written off. Sorry. I got written off from all my children after 10 months of very solid,

a very solid contract role. I was living on 69th in Riverside. And, oh, you can put his pacifier in as long as he keeps sucking. He won't know in a minute. Yeah, so I was living when I was 17 doing that full time, And then I got let go and what happens? Like I go back to school or hopefully I get a good role and I got Mean Girls. That was my first movie.

And it just didn't expect it. Lived in the moment. Had the time of my life. And it carried me on the next. Veronica Mars and Big Love for these two really great TV shows, very different. Did those for a couple years, a bunch of years. it carried me to something else. You know, I was always, I was always, I was always working.

And it was always key. Continue to work. Hopefully it's really good work. I will know when I'm not happy. I will know when it's not good enough. I will know when I'm not being challenged. So you say it was between mean girls and going to Fordham. Yeah.

Is there a possibility that if you don't get mean girls, you just go to college and your life goes a different direction? Or do you think you would have stayed with this acting thing through that? I would have continued acting. Yeah. Fordham because it was only writer's comp one-on-one, whatever that

first class that everybody hates. Someone said, get it over with. I was like, okay, what, $3,000, which is a lot of money. But at that point, I'd had it because I'd been saving from all my children. And so I was like, okay, I'm going to

pay this, whatever. I'm going to do English comp. I'm going to get it over with. And I'm going to continue to audition and everything will be what it is. You know, this was a heartbreak, but it doesn't mean it's the end of it. It just means that I have to make sure that I have a backup plan. And I'm so glad I didn't ever feel like I needed a backup plan after Mean Girls. That was the separation for me.

my my passion and my confidence helped me from mean girls on because I got work I worked hard and I got work drove all over Los Angeles when I moved there with a map like an actual fold-out map

which I still have because it's a it's a nice souvenir from the old pre-map quest days and when we got a printer we would print out our MapQuest, but like... Even MapQuest sounds old at this point. I remember printing those out, yeah. You do? Okay, good.

Oh, yeah. It was so helpful. It was the way to do it. There was no app. There was nothing. You'd print out the directions, exactly. There was a flip phone. I remember so many times with my first boyfriend

who I'd met on the soap opera, on all my children, throwing my flip phone across my childhood bedroom because we'd get in fights and they wouldn't break. I would never throw it. Oh, no, too precious. No, no, no. You can't. You cannot.

You know funny that those Nokia cards? Oh, yeah. We all had it. Yeah, the Nokia brick. So on that escalator of your career, obviously another massive step was Mamma Mia, which turned into this phenomenon. You know, the two movies made a billion dollars between them. and we saw you front and center as Sophie singing and dancing and doing things that people

hadn't seen you do before. What is that role and what are those movies mean to not just your career, but to your life? That was the only time where I really knew when I was making it that it was going to be a huge thing. Because it was Mama Mia. The stage show was a moment for Broadway. I mean, it wasn't just a moment. It stuck. It was so important to see.

It was so exciting. It was so fun for so many people that I knew it was going to be the thing. So when I got Mean Girls, it was very similar to getting the Oscar nomination. I was just like, this is going to change so much for me. I was jumping up and down and calling my parents. It was just such a moment. And every single piece of that, every single thing in my memory from those two movies is just coming back, by the way. 10 years later with a kid, seeing all my old friends again, but as an adult, because I was 21

the first movie. Yeah. It was amazing. People shouldn't have that much fun when they're working. And without Mama Me, I don't know what I'd be doing. I don't know where I would be. I'd be acting for sure. But I don't know.

I just don't know. You never know. You're talking about driving around L.A. with that map. Is part of the reason you at least give off normal, for a star as big as you are and that you live in the place you live is because you've sort of taken yourself out of that universe

in some ways. Not that you don't participate it and work hard and do all the things you have to do to be a working actor, but that you're not, I don't, I don't see you all over the place and walking around L.A. and with paparazzi shots

and all the rest of it, that you've sort of chosen to live the life that you want to live. Yeah, I, I, there's a definite lifestyle that I've come to get used to, which is clean water. Brita filter. I'm kidding. No, seriously, actually.

No, I get to renovate stuff and I get to drive my Ford expedition. So, let's do it. There are things that I, there are creature comforts that have never changed for me that I will always need. I definitely can afford things that I could not afford growing up. up. I didn't really come into like any kind of wealth until I was in my mid-20s. I feel really lucky. I'm the first person in my family, you know, who's made some, you know, some money. And I also have a lot of things. Like I don't, I don't have help. When I work on movies, sometimes I have an assistant and sometimes I don't. I have my mom who lives with us.

I don't have, I don't have a lot of people around because I don't, I don't want that. It's not necessary, until it's necessary, I'm not going to do it. And, you know, I like, I'm, I, yes, I am not, I like a normal life. I like some semblance of normalcy. This pandemic in some ways has been great because I get to wear a mask. Because I also just, I fought so hard to oppress upon people that I am normal, that I am not, just because I am, I'm in movies or TV shows that I do not have someone waken me up with breakfast in bed and that I'm not chauffered around.

Whatever that fairy tale, movie star world is, is not real for most people. 99% of the people in this business don't have lives like that. And every time I live upstate, I meet somebody new. I'm just so desperate for them to understand. that you can talk to me. I have feelings. I've struggled. I came from a normal upbringing.

I'm still very normal in a lot of ways. My life is abnormal in a lot of ways too. But I make the most of it. And I want to connect like everybody else because I am like everybody else, but you've got that polish because of what you do. And so with luckily with social media, I don't have to try so hard to be like, I'm normal. But I'm also like, I'm not normal. I'm unique.

We're all unique, though. So it's like a weird battle. It's a weird. I'm coming. I mean, I'm 35. I have two kids. I don't have time to care so much about what other people think. Thank God.

But it's still a thing, you know, it's like Marion. You know, if I could, I'd give it all the way. I'd give it to everybody. You know that. that. Like, people think they, just because they see me on the cover of modern screen, they know me, but they don't because I'm me. Look at me, Mank. You can talk to me. And it's like, it's how I feel. You can talk to me. And I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're in the public eye. People see you every day and they think they know you. And so,

how do you let people have their thoughts, the freedom of their, you know, what they think, but also want to own your own image. Yeah, well, I think you're right. There's an assumption by people that you want nothing to do with them. When actually for people like you and me, the exact opposite is true. So then you find yourself overcompensating and maybe talking a little too long to somebody. You're grabbing their attention. And they go, oh, wow, that was a lot.

And then they think you're crazy. They're like, see, she is crazy. You can't win. No. It is, yeah, it's, um, listen, I'm, this whole pandemic is about finding the silver linings, you know, and hoping that people you love don't die. Yeah. And hoping that you can do your part in order to help prevent more cases. And the silver lining for me, there's so many, but one of them is a mask, get to wear a mask. Hmm. And you know where you can really connect when you start going down to the feed store, picking up those bags yourself, Amanda. That's your next move. You know what,

Willie, I'm ready. I'm ready. I've been carrying around my 17-pound baby. I have got my muscles back, and they're ready to work. All right. We're going to keep an eye out for you down there. You've been so generous with your time, and it's so fun to hear your little man in the background. Thank you so much for doing this. My mom just got back, so of course, he's like, he's got to. He's got to Two mommies. That's it. That's it. Congratulations on this.

It's so exciting. The movie's great. If people haven't seen it, they've got to go see it. It's so good. My big thanks again to Amanda for a great conversation and to her little man for letting us steal some time from mom to talk about her part in Mank and her career. You can catch Amanda's Oscar-nominated performance in Mank, streaming now on Netflix. My big thanks to all of you for tuning in this week if you want to hear more of my

conversations with our guests every week. Be sure to click subscribe so you never miss an episode. And of course, don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.