Amanda Seyfried biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Amanda Seyfried is an American actress born on December 3, 1985, in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Seyfried’s father, Jack, worked as a pharmacist, and her mother, Ann, as an occupational therapist. Amanda grew up in a close-knit family: "My older sister, Jenn, is like my best friend," she has said. "My parents are still together. They were amazing parents."

Seyfried started modeling at age 11 and appeared on the covers of three Francine Pascal books. By the next year, Seyfried was modeling for The Limited Too with future Gossip Girl actress Leighton Meester.

Seyfried also wanted to act and sing. She studied opera with a voice coach during her teen years. On the acting front, her first contract role came at age 15, playing Lucinda Marie “Lucy” Montgomery on the soap opera As the World Turns (2000). She next appeared as Joni Stafford on another soap opera, All My Children (2002).

Her acting commitments meant she missed a lot of classes at William Allen High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but she graduated in 2003. She secured a place at Fordham University in New York City, but a career-changing movie role in a teen flick changed her plans.

Commercial Success

Seyfried’s big break came playing Karen Smith, a ditzy popular blonde, in the hit film Mean Girls (2004), written by Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey. After appearing with co-stars Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams, Seyfried later said, "Oh, thank God for Mean Girls! That put me on the map!"

Seyfried acted in several supporting TV and film roles over the next two years, such as in Nine Lives (2005), American Guns (2005), Alpha Dog (2006) and Veronica Mars (2004-2006). Her next prominent role was in the HBO drama series Big Love (2006), where she played one of the daughters in a polygamous Mormon family and co-starred with Bill Paxton, Chloe Sevigny and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Seyfried stayed on the show for four seasons before leaving to focus on her film career.

A lead role in the ABBA-based musical film Mamma Mia! (2008) lifted Seyfried to A-list status. Co-starring with Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, Seyfried played Sophie, a girl looking to find out the identity of her father before getting married. The actress also sang one of the lead songs, "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)," on the film’s album. Since its release, the film has grossed over $609 million dollars.

Seyfried appeared in several more films over the next year, including Jennifer’s Body (2008), Boogie Woogie (2009) and Chloe (2009). She was set in 2009 to play the lead role in Sucker Punch, but withdrew due to scheduling conflicts with Big Love.