10. Amanda Seyfried
When this doe-eyed beauty left Big Love to pursue a film career, all eyes were on her to be the Next Big Thing. Between her turn as a Mormon daughter and her scene-stealing work in Mean Girls, she was about as versatile as any young actress could hope to be. She started off right, making bold and distinct choices in Mama Mia!, Jennifer’s Body and Chloe, but then… things took a turn for the worse. Has anyone ever had a longer series of clunkers than her miraculous run of Dear John, Letters to Juliet, Red Riding Hood, In Time, and her most recent flop, Gone? In the course of only a few years, she went from being a new hope to starring in a Twilight knockoff.
Is there hope for her yet?: Of course. She has the benefit of still being young, and Hollywood has proven themselves to be forgiving of a few stumbles. Studios clearly love her, or they wouldn’t be giving her so many pedestals to fall from. And finally, her upcoming projects hint at a potential turnaround: Lovelace, a biopic (about a porn star, but hey, playing real people always has a little prestige, right?); The Big Wedding, an ensemble romantic comedy with a mostly respected cast of veterans; and, in potentially her best career score since Karen Smith, she will be playing Cossette in Tom Hooper’s adaptation of Les Miserables What is more prestigious than that? My sources indicate that there is a 100% chance that it’s already raining for Miss Seyfried… but a pretty good chance that it’ll be clearing up soon.
Our suggestion: Stay on the track. Prestige musicals, biopics, comedies with A+ ensembles… before we know it, Amanda could finally be a hit.
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2 Comments
You make some good points about Seyfried, but calling Dear John, Letters to Juliet, and In Time clunkers depends on how you are defining clunkers. They didn’t do well with critics, but they all did well at the box office and were profitable. Although Dear John made national headlines by ending Avatar’s reign at the top of the US box office, it might surprise you to know that In Time is her second highest grossing movie, making more worldwide than Mean Girls or Dear John with over $173 million total. The reason In Time might be viewed as a clunker by some is because it only made about $37 million domestically.
Seyfried’s problem is that Gone was a complete bomb, with critics and at the box office, and Red Riding Hood was a critical disaster and a box office disappointment. Two movies like in a 12 month period means trouble for anyone who isn’t on the A+ list. Adding to her problems is the awful looking trailer for The Big Wedding, which looks like the worst possible type of romcom. TBW is being released the Friday before Halloween (Oct 26) and that weekend is typically a graveyard for movies not named Saw or Paranormal Activity, and is certainly not the time most people want to see a movie about a wedding. Having a likely bomb on the immediate horizon isn’t helping her career prospects.
Lovelace may well be praised by critics and should showcase her range as an actress, but it won’t make money. Les Mis is her best chance to return to the lists that she is probably no longer on. It looks like a certain hit with critics and the public, though opening against the Hobbit on Dec 14 will probably hold it’s numbers down somewhat.
It appears that her agent has given up on finding work for her until Lovelace and Les Mis come out (unless you count an animated “movie” called Epic and a tiny indie called Pete and Goat, her only films to be out in 2013) so you’re probably right about a 100% chance that it’s raining for her right now. Nice Mean Girls reference, by the way.
The biggest challenge for Seyfried has to do with career management. She is one of the few successful actors/actresses under the age of 50 who doesn’t have a manager. That would probably not be a problem if she had a competent agent, but she is with a tiny, third tier agency called Innovative Artists that has next to no clout, and absolutely no packing ability since they don’t represent directors or writers. Her agent, Abby Bluestone, is apparently a good friend of Seyfried’s, which will make it difficult for Seyfried to move on to an agent and agency capable of furthering her career.
Lovelace and Les Mis should halt her career skid, but without proper management, the reprieve from straight to DVD hell will likely be a temporary one. She’s one of the better actresses of her generation, so let’s hope she makes better career decisions in the future.
I’d like to see Winona Ryder make a career comeback. An actress of many talents, would be nice to see her get some good film roles again.