INTERVIEW: Amanda Seyfried’s Romantic Romp!

We’re getting the real inside scoop on the new romantic film Dear John from star Amanda Seyfried!  We are sooo jealous. The gorgeous blonde is wearing a sleeveless, black and white checked Alexander McQueen dress with black belt that fits her like it was painted on. “I got it off the rack and it fit like a glove”. We should be so lucky. Her, sleek, very high black Brian Atwood pumps are evidently not the most comfy. “He makes the most incredible shoes for women but I’ve gotta say, ‘it’s not easy (she laughs). Not easy being me”.

We think it must have been pretty easy being her character Savannah in love with hot, chiseled Channing Tatum in the movie! Amanda let us know that her boyfriend Dominic Cooper (her co-star in Mamma Mia) was visiting the Charleston, South Carolina set a lot along with Jenna Dewan, Chan’s wife so it was easy to leave the romance in front of the cameras and snuggle up off set with the real-life honeys.

We’ve enjoyed watching Amanda since she played that ditzy high schooler in Mean Girls. She is telling us that her music is still important to her. She wrote a song and sings it in the new film. We are dying to know if she ever broke up with a guy via an e-mail or “Dear John” letter and what went on off and on set. Let’s find out….

We hear that even though director Lasse Hallstrom wanted you for the role of Savannah, it wasn’t a done deal, right?

Amanda: He wanted me to do it but I had to fight for it. Even though a director wants you, it doesn't mean that you're gonna necessarily play the role. I had to meet and do the chemistry read and come back later because they still weren't sure and we did some readings of some extra scenes. Then it was a done deal.

 And how was that chemistry read? Channing is pretty hot.  

Amanda: (The chemistry) was just there. I think it came from the respect that we
had for each other; the fact that we're almost the same type of actor. On set we both don't take things too seriously. We like to have as much fun as we possibly can. I think the two of us always have fun on the movies that we make because you can't get too caught up in anything.

And this is such a serious film.

Amanda:  Yeah, so as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, we were just fooling around and making trouble. We just literally non-stop fooled around on set; practical jokes. He's big into that. He learned a lot from Marlon Wayans (on G.I. Joe).  It's bad but I can't say I wasn't involved. I had a great time.

Charleston, South Carolina is a gorgeous city. Did everyone have fun off set as well?

Amanda: Charleston's a great city. There's a lot of beer and a lot of oysters and a lot of sunshine and it was Fall and so all of us and Lasse frequented Pearl's Oyster Bar and Magnolia restaurant. That was great.  It was a family effort; a family affair too. (Channing’s wife) Jenna (Dewan) was there and my boyfriend (Dominic Cooper) was visiting a lot and it was really nice and easy.

So having the significant others around made sure you two didn’t really fall for each other?

Amanda: Even though Channing is so great and so handsome and so funny, I  wasn't afraid I was gonna fall in love with him or anything.  Actually, it was easier (with them there). We're all actors and we know what's going on. We're not going to go home thinking about our costar. It’s a cliché for people to fall in love on set. Hey, Jenna did with Chan and I did with Dominic, well, after the fact, yeah, messy.  

Guess we won’t get any more info on that?

Amanda: (laughing) It’s funny, you meet somebody and you just click and look how far these relationships have gone. I think, because we're all actors, it was much easier for our significant others to deal with the fact that we're playing a love story.  And, the fact that the love plays so well on screen that you really believe it. I think it came from deeply-rooted respect and adoration for each other.  

Some people call Nick Sparks’ stories melodramatic. Was it difficult as an actress to keep it very real and not slip into melodrama in this film?

Amanda: No. The funny thing is, I've always been subtle to a fault.  I like to be more thoughtful. I've always found that some of the words in some of the scripts just kind of get in the way depending upon how things are written.  This was a really good script and written well.  I didn't feel like that was an issue. Lasse is very thoughtful and wants it to be realistic. I wasn't really scared about slipping into melodrama too much.  I think the moments where it is kind of overly-sentimental, are okay.  You've got to have a little bit.
 
Savannah plays guitar and sings a sweet song in the film. Did you write that?

Amanda: I did. I had a piano in my house in Charleston. Every day I'd go home and play.  I had a violin, guitar and piano. That's my wind-down method.  I was writing the song. I don't know what it means or where my head was but, at the end of the shoot, Lasse asked me to bring in my guitar to do a freestyle song for a montage. I was like 'all right’.

So you singing in the film wasn’t originally planned?

Amanda: No. I thought  I was going to play something that my ex-boyfriend (Jesse Marchant) sang because we needed to get the rights to it so I called him and I was like, 'can I quick sing this'? I got on set and I forgot the lyrics (she laughs).  I knew how to play a guitar because he taught me when we were together. So I was forced to sing my own song. Then they used it and had me record it in the studio and now it's on the end credits and the soundtrack.

So you are keeping up the musical side of your career?

Amanda: If I can tie it into any movie, sure, I'll do something.  But what I really like is helping out unknown artists. I had this artist Willie Mason come and perform for my birthday.  He's from Martha's Vineyard and I flew him down. He stayed at my house for a week and he has some great music.  He sends it to me all the time.

Let’s talk about Savannah. She’s a kind of complicated young woman. How do you see her?  

Amanda: I saw her as a girl who actually knows herself pretty well at her young age of 22. She'd had this strict upbringing. She's very wealthy yet she doesn't put on any airs.  She’s cool. She's special.  She's really smart and strong. She's a good role model I think for young women and I think that's why she was written that way.

She evolves a lot throughout the film. Was that a challenge?

Amanda: I was excited because, in the beginning of the movie you see this girl who is so clean of any issues really. There's nothing weighing her down in her life and that's so nice to play. Then you have this turn and you can see someone who is so levelheaded, balanced and open-hearted go through something so devastating.  That was more the challenge.  

It's funny because it's really hard to play characters that have deep, deep-rooted issues because I can't connect to that. I love playing people I can't connect to because it's all the more challenging. She went through a situation that changed her forever.

Could you ever personally break up with someone on an e-mail or in a letter?

Amanda: No I couldn't. I'm thinking back on my relationships and those relationships weren't the type where you can just do that.  I think it's kind of cowardly. Yeah, maybe she could have called but I know what it's like.

If you're in love with somebody, you don't want it to end but it has to. Hearing somebody's voice, it's something that could have completely just broken her down.

Previous Nicholas Sparks books have done really well when adapted for movies. Are you a fan of Sparks’ work and have you seen the other films like The Notebook?

Amanda: Yeah.  The Notebook blew my mind.  I think it blew a lot of people's minds. It feels so good to watch two people fall in love and be in love that passionately and it feels even better to play it and to give that to (an audience). Sparks’ work is powerful and that's why I think we get so sucked in.  He's a man writing these sentimental love stories and that's kind of fascinating too.

What other love story films have inspired you?

Amanda:  I love to watch movies. Love stories always inspire me whether I'm in love or not. The chance to play this romantic lead was like a dream. My role models were Claire Danes and Leonardo DiCaprio (in Romeo and Juliet). When they fell in love, that's when I fell in love with movies and when I realized I wanted to be Juliet. I think every young girl dreams of being Juliet. Thank God for that movie or honestly, I wouldn't be here.

You served time on the soaps. A lot of people who work on them say they teach an invaluable discipline that stays with you.

Amanda: Memorization and pressure and time. It is invaluable. You have no time to learn thirty pages of dialogue and your brain just gets used to it so quickly and you never lose it. Movies you shoot maybe four pages a day.  On a soap, a whole day's work is like eighty or ninety pages. I can't believe I was able to do that. But, if I had to go back, I could.  It's so fast and you have to connect to these characters so quickly. I think that's a good foundation for any actor.

What's with you and letters? You are acting in Letters to Juliet but they aren't  your character’s letters? Can you catch us up?

Amanda: She finds letters. I play a woman who is in a more mature situation than Savannah starting out in this movie. She is engaged to be married and they go on a pre-honeymoon in Italy. People go to Verona to see the statue of Juliet.  That's the epicenter or Verona which is where I stayed. In our movie, people send letters and post letters on the wall.  

I'm intrigued when I find this really, really old letter that no one found and I write back to it and it gets to Vanessa Redgrave's character and she flies in and is like ‘I've come here to thank you for writing back. It's inspired me to find this man that I was in love with when I was 15'.

She went back to England and married a guy and had children but she's never forgotten this one man. Of course, the love of her life is played by Franco Nero (with whom Redgrave had a real life relationship after filming Camelot together.)

Very romantic. But are you now worried about getting typecast as the romance girl?

Amanda: I have a very heavy, psycho thriller coming out called Chloe. It's been in Toronto and various film festivals and is now being released by Sony. It's coming out between the two romantic films so there will be a little bit of shake up, thank God.