2 weeks Ago
Amanda Seyfried's face contorts into a grimace. I had just asked Liz Moore, the author of "Long Bright River," the novel on which Seyfried's new show is based, about what it's like to have an actor bring to life a character whose first-person voice she had in her head for so long. Seyfried makes an almost cartoonish expression with her big eyes and expressive mouth, which have been tools for her in everything from "Mean Girls" to "The Dropout.
" What's that about? "I just don't think we could ever make what was in your head exist," she says to Moore, sitting next to her in a New York hotel room. "What exists in your imagination is what makes you such a great writer. So I'm like, I don't know if anyone could do it justice.
" "That's so funny," Moore responds. "I'm so moved by what you brought to the role and it's very different than what I wrote but that's a good thing." Advertisement For Seyfried, the Peacock limited series, premiering Thursday, offered a rare opportunity to play a character adapted from a book while working closely alongside its author.
Moore, who co-created the series with showrunner Nikki Toscano, brought with her a wealth of knowledge, not just about the interior life of Seyfried's Mickey, a Philadelphia cop, but also the world she occupies. "Long Bright River" is set in Kensington, a neighborhood of the city known for being a hub of the opioid epidemic, and a place where Moore has both researched and volunteered for years now. "I just felt if you were happy, then we were doing it right," says Seyfried, who's also an executive producer.
"To not have the barometer of you would have been a lot more challenging." Amanda Seyfried as Mickey in Peacock's "Long Bright River." (Matt Infante / Peacock) "Long Bright River" follows Mickey, who comes across a mystery that hits close to home.
Her sister Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings), an addict who spent time as a sex worker, is missing just as a number of other women like her are found dead. As Mickey,..
. Esther Zuckerman.
