AMANDA SEYFRIED on 'MEAN GIRLS' Contributed by Michael J. Lee, Executive Editor for Radio Free Entertainment
June 21, 2005
In the hilarious hit comedy Mean Girls, Amanda played Karen, one of the three popular girls at the pinnacle of the high school social hierarchy. As a member of the so-called Plastics, Karen was a sweet but academically defunct follower prone to saying amusingly boneheaded things like, "So if you're from Africa, why are you white?" and "You want to do something fun? You want to go to Taco Bell?" Meanwhile, her breasts had the uncanny ability to "tell when it's raining."
While promoting her ensemble drama Nine Lives, Amanda was nice enough to digress a bit and talk about the impact Mean Girls has had on her career.
The Interview
MEDIA: How has the success of Mean Girls affected your career?
AMANDA: Well, that was a turning point. It really gave me a push. That movie made me known to most people behind the scenes, like the producers and the casting directors. And this is how I knew: when I would walk into a room for pilot season, they would already know who I was. And that was really cool. That was really exciting for me.
Do you get recognized a lot in public?
I did before. It's kind of [winding] down. [Mean Girls] came out about a year ago. I still get recognized, but I get recognized from other things now. So that's cool. I have other bodies of work that people are seeing. It's really fun to be recognized, because it doesn't happen all that often. So every time it does happen, I'm just really into it! I'm really nice about it. I don't think I'll ever come to a point where I'm just like, "Sorry, I'm not really interested in signing anything right now." [laughs]
Do you have a preference between drama and comedy?
No. It's neck and neck. I really like doing emotional things. But, oh! Comedy is so...I mean, I think it would be fun to do a sitcom, sometimes. I hadn't really felt this way before, but if it's really well written, I think it'd be really fun to do.
Your line "It's like I have ESPN or something" was all over the Mean Girls trailers and commercials. When ads bombard you with your own quote, do you find it funny or embarrassing?
I think it's funny!
Any unusual stories about the attention you've received in the wake of the movie?
Ummm...actually, yeah. Little boys...I think there were about fifteen...I might be wrong, it might be more...I was at the Beverly Center and fifteen boys just ran up to me and they're like, "Oh my God, oh my God, do you know Hilary Duff? Do you know Hilary Duff? Can we meet Hilary Duff?" Or something really weird, especially since I worked with Lindsay Lohan. And then this one kid, [groans] he looks down at my chest, he's like, "Is it going to rain today? What's the weather like?" And I'm like, "This 12-year-old boy...Are you really saying this to me?" I mean, that's creepy. And they wanted to hug me, a lot.
