-Our first guest tonight is a talented actress
you know from such films as "Mama Mia" and "Mean Girls."
She currently stars in "Mank,"
which is in limited theaters and available on Netflix now.
Let's take a look.
-I need a favor, but you're gonna have to promise
you won't laugh.
-Well, given the state of the world, that's a tall order.
-You are gonna. I just know you are.
-I have got such a hangover right now,
there's just a fighting chance I won't.
-I'm being burned at the stake and I am dying for a ciggy-poo.
[ Both laugh ]
There, God's punishing you.
Watch those stairs.
They're treacherous.
-Every moment of my life is treacherous.
Any last words?
-Welcome to San Simeon.
-Please welcome back to the show Amanda Seyfried.
Hello, Amanda. How are you?
-I'm pretty -- I'm pretty good.
I've got mini horses walking. I'm sorry.
I am just so distracted right now.
My hair and makeup team are outside just, like,
holding my horse, my mini horse, on a leash back and forth.
-Now, you've done a very unfair thing to our viewers,
which is now you are talking about something that is
so much more interesting to look at than me.
-I'm so sorry.
I just can't believe -- Sometimes, I just can't believe
my life, and I think I chose really well.
-Well, now, are you actually -- Where are you in your farm
that you can see mini horses out the window?
-So, we have my house and then we have two barns.
One is a nonworking barn, which is where there's just two sta--
what used to be stables where people stay,
like, two bedrooms and a big common area.
And then the, there's hay, a hay barn, behind us,
and then there's another barn where the horses actually go.
It's a working barn.
And, so, they're just, you know, having fun.
-How many mini horses do you have?
-We have two mini horses.
And then we have a pony and a donkey
and two, like, pretty large horses.
Normal horses?
-So you have, like, all the sizes of horses?
-Almost all. You would be surprised.
There are a lot more sizes.
-Were the mini -- What's the order you go in
when you start buying horses?
Do you start with big horses and then you start talking about,
"Oh, you know what would be fun?
We got a little -- a couple mini horses."
Like, is the mini horses the last purchase?
-I think -- No, actually the donkey was the last --
The last thing that we got for Christmas one year
is the Christmas donkey.
But I think it's just whoever, you know,
needs a new place to live, we'll take them in, at any size.
But you do usually start with big horses, I think.
-Be honest, Amanda.
Did you get the mini horses thinking
they were baby horses that were gonna grow into big horses?
-Like the pigs? No.
No, I knew they were going to stay small.
-This is -- I should point out a couple things,
because I do feel like, you know, in this the last year,
a lot of people, like, said, "You know what?
Forget city living. I'm moving to a farm."
But this -- You've been farm-living for a while.
-Yeah, I'm old hat now. -Yeah.
-We've been enrolled in the school here, too.
You know when your kids start going to school somewhere,
they've got to kind of stay, right?
-Yes. And you have 30 total animals.
-No, like 23. -Like 23?
I feel like when you say "23," it's 23.
-24 1/2.
-What -- And congratulations.
In September, you had your second baby.
-Yep. Yeah, thanks.
Yeah, I didn't have him in a lobby, thank God.
-Yeah. Well, I think, even a lobby is probably, you know,
nicer than a barn.
-You're right. No, it's good.
I still am mesmerized by that story.
It's so beautiful. -It's a pretty good one.
Did you -- How old is your oldest?
-She's like over 3 1/2.
-So, what does she -- What does a 3-1/2-year-old --
Of your animals, who is she most drawn to?
-The donkey. -Okay.
-Everybody is in love with the donkey.
-And the donkey -- I think we have a photo of the donkey.
The donkey is Gus? -That's Gus, yeah.
-I get it.
What is it about a donkey that a child is drawn to?
-You know, I think there's so much surface area
in his head.
There's just so much space,
so much fuzzy space to love on, maybe.
It's very hard and flat and fuzzy,
and horses don't necessarily have that much space.
I don't know why that's the first thing I think of, but --
-I will be honest -- that answer was so much better
than what I expected, that donkeys are beloved
because of their head surface area.
Because I believe it abso-- As soon as you said it,
I realized that is true, and this is clearly a person
who is spending a lot of time with many different farm animals
and taking stock of their head surface area.
-Too much time maybe?
-You guys -- I'm assuming when you're at 23,
it's safe to say you have a few chickens there?
-There were like 25 very recently.
-Oh, that seems -- I don't know -- a little harrowing.
-Yeah. -Where are the chickens?
Amanda, where are the chickens?
-In heaven.
-All of them?
You didn't keep any of the chickens around?
-What?
-You didn't keep any of the chickens around
as just a reminder?
-No. No, there are chickens. We still have more chickens.
-Okay, gotcha.
So just a few made their way to the next --
-Yeah, very coincidentally, one -- two days in a row.
-Oh, you lost them to -- Was it to, like, coyotes or --
-No, no.
I think it was an internal issue that they had.
God, it's not even funny. I'm sorry.
I use laughter to deal with the pain of grief.
So don't get me wrong.
-Well, we'll leave it at that. Internal issues.
I don't know why it's funny either,
but I just feel like I'm learning a lot about farming.
And I feel like if I used your words with another farmer,
they might look at me sideways.
-I'm not a -- No, my caretaker, the woman who
really does keep everybody alive, like,
when we leave for months at a time, thank God she's here.
She looks at me sideways every single day.
-Yeah.
Classic "oh, when you lose a chicken,
as I learned from my farmer friend Amanda,
it's probably internal issues."
Hey, this movie is wonderful.
You were so good in this film. -Thanks.
-Was it exciting to take on this role of Marion Davies,
who I knew from the film.
I did not know anything about her, the actress herself.
Like, how far into process did you realize
what a great, juicy part this was?
-Well, I kind of knew it was a juicy part, you know,
before I knew I was cast,
because I had just read the script, and I thought,
"God, what a dream role I didn't realize I had."
And the idea of stepping into the '30s
and playing somebody who I didn't really know --
Most people don't seem to know much about her.
And I got to tell you, really hard to find
backstage interviews of her when she's just herself.
Yeah, it was very daunting, very exciting,
definitely the biggest challenge to date.
-And you have David Fincher, obviously, directing it,
and, you know, his reputation precedes himself.
And most of your work in the film is with Gary Oldman.
Was it -- You know, was it an inviting set?
Was it -- Did you feel very taken care of
insofar as working with somebody like that?
-Yes. He -- I didn't really have any expectations.
I knew we were going to do a lot of takes,
and that sounds a lot like rehearsal for a play,
so bring it on.
He was so -- He's so supportive of his actors.
He's so respectful.
He knows how much we're bringing to the table.
I mean, we're bringing his characters alive in his movies.
And he's very -- He's a gentle hand in guiding you
through the moments and getting exactly what he wants without,
you know, being a brute or anything like that.
He's just -- Yeah, I felt very supported, very warm.
Gary and I have a great relationship.
We've worked together before.
Our rapport definitely helped our characters
and the connection there.
And everybody -- Like, no one went to their trailers.
They just hung out between takes.
-You get to play someone in the '30s from Brooklyn.
I -- You know, again, I don't know what counts
as a Brooklyn accent from the '30s, but yours was --
-Me either. -Yours seemed pitch-perfect.
Did you -- -Great.
-Did you enjoy it, because it does strike me as
a really fun era to play a character from.
-Oh, yeah.
Especially you know, the real Marion Davies.
She's from Brooklyn.
She's kind of, she --
You know, the deepening of the voice and --
Like, slightly deepening of the voice, the slight accent.
I never want to go too far in case it distracts people
or it's bad.
And, yeah, she was so cool.
She was just not like I expected at all.
And I haven't seen that many characters in that era, so...
-It was so much fun to watch.
You know, again, this is a film that
if you've seen "Citizen Kane," it's fascinating to watch a film
about the seeds of making the film.
Of all the movies you've been in,
what would be the most interesting
to base a movie on the making of about?
-I think the hijinks of the making of "Mama Mia"
is enough to make a great, fun movie.
"Mama Mia" has a lot of fans, and I feel like they --
A lot of people come away from that movie feeling like
they've just been on some wonderful vacation singing ABBA.
And, like, the truth behind the making of it was that
we had more fun than you had watching it.
-That would be great.
I would also watch a movie about how awful
the making of "Mama Mia" was and how it was just
super-depressing and nobody liked each other.
-There's always a version.
It would be really --
That's actually the parody version then,
'cause that would be the parody version.
-I'd watch them both. Hey, it's lovely to see you.
You know, I'm a little disappointed
I only heard you describe the mini horses.
Maybe next time, we can bring them into the shot.
-Sorry. I even took a picture, but it's not very good.
-That's fine.
Yeah, thanks so much for being here.
Congrats again on the film. It's so good.
-Thanks, thanks, thanks. Thanks for having me.