The best Amanda Seyfried movies have showcased the actor's underrated and versatile range of solid performances. Seyfried found her breakout role in Mean Girls and has since managed to avoid being typecast or trapped in one kind of character or movie, instead bouncing between genres and tones while working with some of the best filmmakers working right now. The Oscar-nominated actor has a long career ahead of her to be certain, but there are already some great Amanda Seyfried movies to celebrate.
Seyfried recently received some of the biggest praise and attention in her career for her Emmy-winning performance as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout. While the miniseries allowed Seyfried to excel on the small sceen, her movie career features some of her best work and most popular projects. From Best Picture-nominated prestige projects to crowd-pleasing musicals to hilarious comedies, these Amanda Seyfried movies show her amazing versatility.
10 Letters To Juliet (2010)
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The popular rom-com Letters to Juliet stars Seyfried as an American vacationing in Italy who, upon finding a number of corresponding love letters in the garden of Shakespeare's fictional lovers, tracks down the star-crossed pen pals. Amanda Seyfried played the female lead in a number of romance movies at this point in her career, including Dear John, released the same year. However, this entry in the genre rises above the typical fare with a lighthearted charm and likeable characters. Though it received mixed reviews from critics, the small movie was a bigger hit with audiences and took in a stellar worldwide gross.
9 The Art Of Racing In The Rain (2019)
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In the touching drama The Art of Racing in the Rain, Amanda Seyfried plays the wife of a race car driver (Milo Ventimiglia) whose three loves in life (besides racing) are his wife, their daughter, and his dog. This film marks a return to more light-hearted dramas for Seyfried that are more palatable for a larger audience than the intense dramas she was navigating towards. Seyfried's charming onscreen persona is ideal for this warm and sweet family-friendly story. Though some might see it as a bit manipulative in pulling the heartstrings, the movie has earned a strong following.
8 While We're Young (2014)
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Branching out into more serious, independent films, Seyfried landed the heavily supportive role of Darby in While We're Young, where she and Adam Driver play a pair of young hipsters that befriend an older couple (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) and breathe new life into their marriage. The film is directed by renowned filmmaker Noah Baumbach. The movie is his typical approach to grounded and human stories about relationships that are filled with his clever and biting sense of humor. Seyfried the opportunity to demonstrate her acting range, working well with Baumbach's unique dialogue style and mixing authenticity with a funny performance.
7 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
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Reprising her role as Sophie in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, the sequel to the joyous 2008 musical follows Donna's daughter and friends taking a posthumous trip down memory lane in flashbacks that explore the love triangle that comes to a head in the original film. The sequel takes advantage of some of ABBA's vast discography and pulls out some of the best songs missing from the original Mamma Mia! a decade prior. Along with the rest of the cast, Seyfried flexes her singing chops as well as acting. While Meryl Streep appears only as a wordless specter, Seyfried shares the spotlight with Lily James, who plays a younger Donna. The sequel fell short of the original in terms of box office, but there are plenty who praise it as a fun follow-up with the same stylish energy.
6 Jennifer's Body (2009)
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Jennifer's Body is a teen horror-comedy directed by Karyn Kusama starring Megan Fox as a high school girl who is sacrifced in a supernatural ceremony and returns as an undead monster that feeds on young men. Seyfried plays Jennifer's best friend who is torn between helping her friend and stopping this monster. Jennifer's Body bombed at the box office but has recently seen a resurgence in popularity correlating with its addition to the Criterion Collection and Megan Fox's re-emergence into the public eye. Although it was received as a trashy Hollywood movie in its time, contemporary critics are re-evaluating the film and its revolutionary takes on sexuality, femininity, and queer female relationships.
5 Mamma Mia! (2008)
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One of the most iconic movie musicals of all time, Seyfried is incredibly memorable as Sophie, a soon-to-be-married daughter to Donna (Meryl Streep) that hopes to discover her father's identity before her wedding day so that he might walk her down the aisle. This might just be a supporting role for Seyfried, but she is not overshadowed. She stands out in numbers like "Honey, Honey," her biggest solo, and "Lay All Your Love On Me," a duet with Dominic Cooper, who plays her husband, Sky. While Mean Girls establishes Seyfried's place in the cultural zeitgeist of the 2000s, Mamma Mia! solidifies it four years later. The movie capitalized on its star-studded cast and iconic soundtrack becoming a massive worldwide blockbuster hit.
4 First Reformed (2017)
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In First Reformed, Amanda Seyfried plays the pregnant wife of an environmental terrorist opposite Ethan Hawke, a pastor that tries to intervene in their lives at her behest. The film is directed by Paul Schrader, best known for his screenwriting work in the Scorsese film Taxi Driver. Though the small movie didn't get much attention from mainstream audiences upon its release, its reputation has only grown since then with it topping many "best of the year" lists in 2017 and earned Schrader an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The movie is a gripping and engrossing character study, and while Hawke commands the movie, Seyfried continues to show her range.
3 Les Misérables (2012)
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In this film adaptation of the French novel written by Victor Hugo in 1862 and the sung-through musical of the same name, Seyfried stars as Cosette, an orphan who is unlucky in all but love. Seyfried once again shows off her impressive singing talents in Les Misérables alongside a star-studded cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Eddie Redmayne, and Anne Hathaway in an Oscar-winning role. The story of redemption and forgiveness set in this epic musical retelling of classic literature ended up becoming a Best Picture nominee and not the last that Seyfried would appear in.
2 Mank (2020)
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David Fincher's latest project follows the troubled screenwriter of Orson Welles' Citizen Kane as he races to finish the screenplay for the now world-famous film in the topsy-turvy universe of '30s Hollywood. Mank is Seyfried's first time working with two legends of the silver screen — Fincher and Gary Oldman, who plays Herman J. Mankiewicz himself. Far from being outdone however, Seyfried makes her perfect for the role of Marion Davies, whose creative work in screenwriting and producing was constantly being overlooked in favor of her onscreen career in comedy and romance films. Seyfried earned her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress while the movie earned an additional nine nominations, including Best Picture.
1 Mean Girls (2004)
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Although she would later branch primarily into drama, Seyfried's role as the ditzy blonde Karen in Mean Girls demonstrates her comedic abilities as well. Hands down one of the funniest films of the decade, Mean Girls would not be half as funny without Seyfried as one of her most notable supporting roles. The hype for Mean Girls started upon its release and has not died out since. It remains one of the most beloved teen movies of all time and even inspired a Mean Girls stage musical which will soon be adapted into a movie as well. The movie is also notable for kicking off Amanda Seyfried's incredible career with his scene-stealing performance.