Actress Amanda Seyfried received the first Academy Award nomination in her career for her role as actress Marion Davies in the Netflix film Mank. It’s something of a surprise that Seyfried, who began acting at an early age, hadn’t been considered for other major awards for her previous performances — but then again, Davies never won a major award, so Seyfried has one up on her there!
Seyfried—who has starred in big-screen musicals like Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables—explains that she initially got interested in performing because of her passion for singing. She says, “I wanted to sing, first of all. Singing was a big goal for me. I had an Annie audition. Annie came back up in revival when I was 10 — so ’96. From then on, I wanted to be a singer. I loved the way it made me feel. I loved listening to singers and watching concerts. That turned into: I want to be onstage. I want to perform in every way. I started taking acting lessons more seriously and dropping the singing. I guess it was just having a lot of energy, needing to have an outlet, and knowing that I loved entertaining. Then things happen: You get a role and you’re like, O.K., now I’m here. Then you don’t get a role, and you’re like, O.K., now I’m going to go to Fordham. Then you get Mean Girls and you’re like, O.K., I’m going to drop out of Fordham, and I’m going to go to Toronto. It was just step-by-step scary, but exciting, really.”
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