Amanda Seyfried: I don't know! I'm sorry if it was ever distracting! I've met a lot of actors who are the same as me. I hate when they call action wh
Amanda Seyfried: I don’t know! I’m sorry if it was ever distracting! I’ve met a lot of actors who are the same as me. I hate when they call action when I’m in a really good conversation, which happened a lot. Sydney Sweeney is the same way. I just worked with her [on The Housemaid], and it happens a lot with us—we’re having a really intense conversation about our lives and then they’re like, “okay, we’re rolling” and then so as soon as we cut I’m like, “wait, sorry, keep going.”
Honestly, I do a lot of preparation, and sometimes I do need some space beforehand. There are certain things where you have to go far, far into despair or fear and you need a little bit of a runway. And then sometimes you are just talking to someone else, and it’s like the fifth take, and you’ve got your mind on whether or not you’re going to click “buy” on this swimsuit. It all depends. I can’t be fully in it ever, and I think that’s survival.
Redmayne: But to be clear, you are fully committed. When we were working all those years ago, I’d barely done film. I definitely felt like I was still learning. I just remember it being so freeing that you pulled me out of my head. I always am so grateful for that because I’ve tried to learn from it.
Seyfried: When we started shooting, it was fucking terrifying. I have my issues with myself and my voice, but I do think that the memory of that movie started with the comradery, the real companionship that we had out of the gate.
Did you audition together?
Redmayne: We did, in a really slightly scuzzy room above Shaftsbury Avenue. And they made you sing that top fucking E in the audition. That’s the most brutal thing I’ve ever heard. And it was like American Idol, with all the producers and the composers [in the room]. You and I were sort of crawling in a corner trying to go as far away from the camera as possible.
Seyfried: And also by the way, it’s Les Mis. It’s miserable. And it was so fun. I had so much fun.
Redmayne: I had so much fun too. Remember the day when we had to sing “A Heart Full of Love”? Tom [Hooper] decided to cover this area with a net, so that butterflies could be there. It was one of our first things, and we were still in that nervous stage. We were just consistently being upstaged by the butterflies.
Seyfried: Incredibly frustrating. But also, when are we going to get to work with butterflies again? It’s a weird place to be. And we were always singing. We even did karaoke.
Redmayne: They did love karaoke, but I’m not so into karaoke. Especially alongside a load of musical theater people who were brilliant.
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