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Seyfried’s Yearlong Preparation Powered a 34-Day Shoot for The Testament of Ann Lee

New interviews highlight the trust-based collaboration behind Mona Fastvold’s movement-driven biopic.

Overview

  • Amanda Seyfried says she and the creative team workshopped for roughly a year, including early material shot in Massachusetts, to be ready for a compressed schedule in Budapest.
  • The production filmed in just 34 days, with department heads and collaborators convening on days off to refine performance, movement, and music.
  • Seyfried trained on a Manchester accent with dialect coach Tanera Marshall while rehearsing choreography with Celia Rowlson-Hall and developing vocals with composer Daniel Blumberg.
  • Director Mona Fastvold says COVID-era constraints reshaped staging plans, including abandoning the idea of large-scale sequences with hundreds of dancers.
  • The film is out from Searchlight, and Fastvold and Seyfried trace their creative rapport to her directing an episode of Seyfried’s Peacock series Long Bright River, which set the tone for bolder choices on screen.