Amanda Seyfried is just like most women in Hollywood in the sense that she has been in some uncomfortable situations. In a new interview with Porter, which came out on August 9, the star of “The Dropout” talked about how, as a young actress, she felt like he had to do nude scenes. Even though she says she came out of the pre-#MeToo era “pretty unscathed,” she says she still felt like she had to shoot scenes that made her uncomfortable so she could keep working in the industry.
Being 19, walking around without my underwear on — like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen?
she said, before “pausing in mock consideration,” according to the outlet.
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.
Seyfried didn’t name the project she was talking about, but she did say that she wished she could have started acting now since intimacy coordinators are becoming more common on sets and the #MeToo movement has made it easier for actors to talk about their experiences.
During her Mean Girls days, she may not have said some rude things because of these things. In a May interview with Marie Claire, Seyfried talked about the comments she got about her Mean Girls character, Karen Smith, especially from men who sexualized the joke about how her breasts could tell when it was going to rain.
I always felt really grossed out by that,” she recalled. “I was like 18 years old. It was just gross.
However, since these experiences, Seyfried told Porter that she has since learned to protect and stand up for herself while working on sets, even when she gets rejected for a role she really wanted.
When I meet somebody who’s younger, like in their twenties, and they get rejected… by a job or something like that, it crushes them completely for a minute,
she says.
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.
Now, the actress is getting the respect she wants from her acting projects, and she doesn’t blame her recent Oscar nomination for Mank or Emmy nomination for The Dropout for this change. Instead, she says she’s changed because she wants to.
There’s a respect level that I have never felt so fully around me,
she said.
It has nothing to do with any level of fame or recognition or critical acclaim. Whatever it is, it’s not because of Mank, it’s not because of The Dropout, it’s not about having seen my movies. I’m respected because I’m 36 years old and I know who the f*ck I am.
