-Our first guest tonight is an Academy Award-nominated
actress you know from such films as "Mean Girls,"
"Mamma Mia!," and "Mank."
She stars in "A Mouthful of Air,"
which is exclusively in theaters October 29th.
Let's take a look.
♪♪
-Wow.
♪♪
Look at that.
I have a birthday boy who's very excited to see Mommy.
-Happy birthday...
Hi, champy. Happy birthday.
Do you like your sign?
It says "Happy birthday, Teddy Bear."
Mama made that sign. She just finished.
You want to see what I got you? Do you wanna see?
-Please welcome back to the show our friend Amanda Seyfried.
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
I'm so happy to see you in person again.
-This is bananas. -I know.
We Zoomed a couple times over the last two years.
-We did a lot of Zooming, and I did not mind it.
-You were really good at Zooming
because you lived on a farm,
and you would actually sometimes hear animals in the background.
And I will tell you I liked that a great deal.
-I liked it, too.
It felt very comfortable, you know?
Waist-up kind of dressing. You know, it was just nice --
I mean, I had a baby -- very young baby
at the time, too, so it really worked for me.
I love the vibe of a studio audience.
Don't get me wrong. This is awesome.
I can't see your faces, but...
[ Cheers and applause ]
I do -- I'm -- But as much stage fright as I have --
I really do suffer from extreme stage fright.
I just had some wine.
But it really feels nice that you're here
and we're all together. -It's nice to be together.
-It makes it feel like there's some progress being made.
-It was -- Another thing that was really nice
since the last time I saw you is we were talking about
the film "Mank" that you were so wonderful in.
And then you were nominated, deservingly so,
for an Academy Award.
-Thanks. I know. It was a big deal.
-I am always -- -But I will say --
That -- That -- Oh. God.
I was -- I got the call from my publicist, who --
I turned my phone off the night before,
because I was like, "If anyone's going to tell me
I got an Academy Award nomination or didn't,
I want it to be my mother." -That's very sweet.
-She lives with us. Yeah.
But I was also sleeping in
'cause I had a tough case of COVID, you know?
So it was really hard not to talk about it
because in the press you have to do
all these interviews the next day, and I was like...
[Gravelly voice] "Yeah, no. I'm really happy.
Like, it's really exciting. I, uh --
No, I, like, couldn't be happier, really."
I'm, like, so ill.
And I didn't want that to, you know, take over --
Because, you know, clickbait and stuff like that.
So I was dealing with one of the worst moments of my life,
worrying that my mom was gonna get sick.
She had been vaccinated. Thank God.
'Cause it was in March, right? So it was before I --
Actually I had just gotten vaccinated
two weeks before I got my positive result...
-Congratulations. It's great to get both.
-It's great to have both, apparently.
Hybrid immunity. But, no, it was scary
because I have two small kids and I was worried about them.
And my husband was working. And it was really stressful.
And then all of a sudden, this amazing
career-changing thing happens.
And, boy, life is weird. -Yeah.
-Makes you really embrace the positive.
-I would imagine. -Not the COVID positive.
I guess the COVID positive, as well.
-You're right. This is a terrible two years
to say "embrace the positive."
Dr. Fauci says, "The last thing you do is embrace the positive."
-Yeah. Well... -How are your animals?
I know we've had some, you know -- that part of farm life
is you learn that life cycles for some animals are shorter
than you might come to expect from human beings.
-Yeah. I was taking a tally of our chickens,
'cause we just got back from a long L.A. jaunt, if you will.
-And you don't have, like, a chicken sitter.
You just, like, leave them to their --
-I definitely have a chicken sitter,
but she's more than that.
She's the animal whisperer. -Gotcha.
So the chickens aren't like --
You don't, like, leave a fridge full of stuff
and you're like, "All right."
-If they were a little bit smarter, I probably would.
But, no, Shannon is ev-- She's amazing.
And I just checked in with her, And I was like,
"I don't remember losing..."
I came back, and there were three.
I left I guess -- There must have been only been five then.
But I don't recall --
In the last four months, I guess we lost two.
So there's three. We're gonna get more.
But it's not the season for it. -By the way, when you said,
"I went back and counted my chickens,"
I thought we were talking like 50 to 100 chickens.
[ Laughter ]
-No, I wi-- That's my dream. -Yeah.
But I'm like -- How do you find out?
And you're like, "Let's see.
There were five, and then we had -- we had three."
I'm not a farmer, but... -It took me a while,
but I counted them with my hand,
and there are only three.
I went out one day, and I was like...
But there are so many animals to look after.
-You have goats?
-Yeah. Our one goat -- I just checked in today
'cause we're going aback up tonight.
-Did you count and you were like, "One. They're all here."
[ Laughter ] -Yeah. We have six still.
Thank God.
No, one is -- There are two who are struggling.
One has a --
is struggling with something called precocious udder,
where she -- her udder gets really inflamed
and heavy.
And witches milk comes out of it.
It's not a joke. This is what our vet told us.
'Tis the season. -I can't believe the best word
they could come up for that for "precocious."
-I know. It's --
-"We have a toddler who is precocious.
He is very swollen, and witches milk..."
-And witches milk comes out out of his orifices.
That would be terrifying, but, yeah.
-Is the goat gonna be okay?
-I think she's got a fine prognosis.
-Okay.
-I'll know more tomorrow.
-Okay. But we'd love to have you back.
-Thank you. I love -- This is my favorite show.
-We love having you here. -It really is.
-What about Halloween?
The one-year-old probably doesn't have much of a take.
-Yeah, I tell him he's gonna be an officer dinosaur.
He's gonna be a cop and a dinosaur mixed together.
-Okay. Great. Perfect.
I think he will look back on that and thank you.
The older one probably -- The older girl, right?
-Yeah, she's gonna be Peter Pan
and Alice in Wonderland and a pirate.
What are your kids gonna be?
-The 3.5-year-old's a pirate.
And the 5.5-year-old
is like a ship captain but like --
-Like a boss of the pirate?
-No. It's weird. It's not like a sea captain.
It's like a cruise-ship captain.
[ Laughter ]
It's very, like, brass buttons and, like, a hat.
-From "Titanic." -"Titanic," yeah.
And actually my kids are obsessed with "Titanic."
This is a true thing. And -- Here's the thing.
My wife is always -- You know my wife, Alexi.
She's like, "Don't tell him about superheroes
because it's just, like, very violent and stuff."
And then I come in one day, and she's literally reading them
a book about the "Titanic."
And I'm like, "Oh, watery grave is fine?"
-"Oh, my God, you're gonna drown" kind of thing.
Wow. That's, uh, historical.
-I think he wanted to be a "Titanic" captain
because then part of his costume
is just sadly drinking brandy while...
-And kids are the best at, you know...
-They're so good at drinking brandy.
-Yeah. They're the best at, you know, posing.
-I do think it's funny that --
I realize now. I hadn't put it together.
That the oldest one picked first and was like,
"I'm a sea captain," and the 3.5-year-old,
who just, like, exists to be of an irritant to him is like,
"I'm a pirate, so..."
-"I'm you're enemy, man."
-:I'm your enemy. I hope I don't ransack your candy."
-Wow. What's that like? God. I have that in my future.
-You do have that in your future because they probably --
What does the girl think of the little one-year-old?
-She's obsessed with him. -Oh, that's good.
-Well, actually, it's evolving.
-Okay.
There's a lot going on in your life right now that is evolving.
The goat, the relationship between your children.
-I know, and my husband is working right now,
so he is, like, in and out, and I'm just like --
I think the time you need to be home right now is right now.
Because a one-year-old who's about to walk, it just --
He wants to die. -Yeah.
-He's just, "Where are the sockets?
Where is the glass?" -Yeah.
-"Show me where the knives are. I'm gonna have some fun."
And it's -- And he's got male energy.
-Yeah, that is --
That's a really funny thing. Like my three and a half --
-You have two of them. -I have two of them.
I brought my 3.5-year-old to school today.
And he just -- He, like,
just got on the floor and just screamed, but, like, happily.
Just, like, happily screamed and then, like, ran his feet
around in a circle like he was one of the Three Stooges.
And I was like, "I don't know what tell you."
-You can't. You just got to walk away.
-Yeah, just walk away.
-I mean, they're not gonna learn anything right now anyway.
-That's true. -Except socializing.
-Yeah. That's what I said. I'm like, "I'm leaving,
and, by the way, I don't think you're teaching him anything,
'cause he should know not to do that."
-Yeah. Give it time. -Give it time.
-I guess so.
-This film is a wonderful film.
It's a deeply -- It's a heavy subject.
-It's profound.
-It's profoundly sad. -Yeah.
-You play a new mother suffering
through depression, anxiety, postpartum.
I would imagine a film like this,
one, you have to be passionate about the material
and, two, they have to be hard to get made.
Like, to have somebody say,
"We'll give you money to make a movie like this."
-People -- We have a lot of investors who --
Maven Pictures, these two women, Celine and Trudie --
they found people that were passionate about it, as well.
And they found the money,
and we made this tiny little movie in 21 days.
And it was kind of awesome
because it was small, and I liked that.
And we were just all together.
But at the same time, it's just -- it shows --
It reflects really how we talk about,
you know, mental health in general
and also how we treat mothers in the healthcare system,
which is we don't treat mothers in the --
As soon as you have a baby, you go home, and that's it.
There's no fourth-trimester check-ins.
There's no, "Hey, are you feeling okay?"
And, you know, your partner -- If you're a single mother,
you know, you're made to feel like you have to do it alone,
which is crazy.
We used to -- It used to be a tribe thing.
And, luckily for me, I do have that.
My mom lives with us.
And I can pass the baby off with her
when I'm working or whatever, and I know that they're safe.
But it's so traumatic to deliver a baby
even if you're not suffering from anxiety or depression
or any kind of mental illness to begin with.
You -- It's alw-- I feel like for most --
Every mother I've ever spoken to I know
is terrified of the night times, because you put your baby
to sleep and you're just hoping that they don't die
in the middle of the night. It's grim.
But it's a reality of motherhood and of having a small child --
Even you, I'm sure it's hard because you can only do much.
-Yeah. -You can't feed your baby.
You have to make sure
that your wife is doing okay and the kids are okay.
And it's just -- it's really hard.
And nobody -- We don't talk about it enough.
And I hope this movie generates that conversation.
And I hope people understand that,
that there is a lot of help out there
and that we need more of it also.
We can't be forgotten as women, especially leaving the hospital
getting those $20,000 bills, even after insurance,
and no help, no, like --
Lactation consultants are not free, as far as I know.
And psychological help is not affordable.
-It's really a beautiful and important film.
[ Applause ]
It's so nice that you used your platform to tell it.
-Oh, thanks. Yeah, I hope people see it.
Listen. It's not easy to talk about this kind of stuff.
But you have to talk about it in order for people to feel like
there is a place to go when you're feeling that way.
-I'm so happy to see you.
It's always such a delight to have you in the studio.
-Yeah, thanks. I'm so happy that I'm here with you.
-I know. It's really nice to have you here.
-Yeah, I feel safe. I am definitely not --
-That's what we try very hard to do.
"A Mouthful of Air" is wonderful.
It's exclusively in theaters Friday.