Amanda Seyfried Spent a Year Prepping for 'The Testament of Ann Lee' Role

The actress has shared that she spent a year preparing for her part in the film, reports 'Female First UK'.

The 40-year-old actress portrays the titular spiritual leader in Mona Fastvold's movie and explained that she started her preparation well in advance as she had just 34 days to shoot the flick.

Asked if the limited production time put pressure on her shoulders, Amanda told Collider, "It does, but with Mona Fastvold, she has a collection of the best craftsmen in their field. All the heads of departments will drop everything for her, who were also working on this for a long with me. We're working on this for a year prior to Budapest".

She further mentioned, "We'd already done a workshop, so we shot a bunch of stuff that ends up in the movie in January, before that, in Massachusetts. So I will say yes, 34 days is ridiculous, but because we knew we didn't have that much time or money, we all, on our days off from other projects, would come together and work on certain aspects".

As per 'Female First UK', 'The Housemaid' star recalled how she spent countless hours collaborating with the crew to ensure that she was "ready" when they time came to film.

Amanda said, "For me, I was always working with Tanera Marshall on the Manchester accent because that was a huge hill to climb for me. Celia Rowlson-Hall I was already friends with, so Celia and I were working together upstate in a little studio across from a donut shop. We would do five-hour sessions daily, weekly, when we both had time off. I was working with Daniel a year prior, on FaceTime, Daniel Blumberg, the composer".

"I think I had done my first studio session at our friend's studio in Brooklyn in December of last year or the year before. So, yes, it was short, but we all gave our energy and time for a year before it because we knew that once we were there, we were going to be strapped for time. So, I did feel kind of ready when we got to Budapest", she added.

Her alter ego Ann Lee gives birth four times in the movie but loses all of the kids and she wanted the scenes to do justice to such an emotive issue.

She said, "You see in quick succession her losses. It was really important for Mona and me to show the birth scenes as they are, as they can be, not only to honour Ann Lee, but to honour the millions of people who have lost their children in childbirth and infancy, which this is what happens, and to show the graphic nature of a delivery".

"You don't see that very often, but you need to get down in there with them in order for her to really earn where she ends up going, completely lifting off, levitating into this otherworldly, second-coming-of-Jesus leadership. You have to understand exactly why", she added.

- IANS