Amanda Seyfried is such an “it” actress right now that you probably forgot she used to be a mean girl. Remember Karen, the girl whose nipples possessed the ability to tell when it was going to rain? That was Seyfried, and almost needless to say she’s come a long way from the dumb blonde stereotype in Mean Girlsover the last six years.
That’s it. Six years is all it’s taken for Seyfried to go from one of many in a teen comedy to bona-fide romance actress, playing the lead in the second-most successful romance film of 2010 in Dear John and Friday’s Letters to Juliet, Summit Entertainment’s best non-Twilight shot at making money this year.
She’s on the cusp of becoming a household name at 25 years old. The younger generation for sure knows who she is by now and the older would recognize her at the least from Mamma Mia. Her wide oval eyes and long blonde hair make her a standout and most importantly for her, she has the look to pull off both younger and more mature roles. So many actresses her age easily fill a niche. She was both the look and experience to pull off anything from comedy to straight drama.
Seyfried started with soap operas, which would explain her prowess in tear-jerkers, landing a role in the 2000-2001 season of As the World Turns at the age of 14. After a three-episode stint on All My Children, she landed the role of a lifetime in Mean Girls which placed her squarely on the map. She started landing primetime television walk-ons and nearly beat out Kristen Bell to star in Veronica Mars. Eventually she found her place on HBO’s Big Love in 2006 which has kept her working steady.
The film career blossomed when she beat out a slew of young actresses to play Sophie in 2008’s Mamma Mia. Since that exposure she’s had her pick from Dear John to Jennifer’s Body. She’s also set to star in a re-invisioning of Little Red Riding Hood under the direction of Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke due in 2012.
It’s usually hard to get a sense of an young actor’s longevity, but Seyfried leaves the impression that she’s not going anywhere with the breadth of genres she’s tackled and the company she’s kept in her movies from Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia to Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson in the thriller Chloe earlier this year.
Her acting style is very natural and reserved. You don’t get the sense that she’s trying too hard to physically express her characters outside of herself. She keeps her performances internalized and personal which gives her a relatable quality that makes for a terrific dramatic and romance actress.
Yet as reputable as she has become, Seyfried could still take a warranted few steps up to a major motion picture. Working on “Riding Hood” for Warner Bros. should further her exposure as a leading actress, but it would be cool to see her step into some different genres. I could, for example, have pictured her in Scarlett Johansson’s role in Iron Man 2, or something of that ilk. She doesn’t strike me as an action star or typical superhero’s girlfriend, but she could hold some weight in a co-star capacity in a dramatic thriller or action movie. Time is definitely on her side and I think there’s no doubt she could find herself in a position to sign on to a big-budget potential franchise in the near future.
