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by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 24 — Amanda Seyfried admits she knew very little about Ann Lee, founder of the 18th-century Shaker movement, before playing her in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” the film opening Christmas Day that explores the visionary leader’s quest for equality and communal living.
“I was surprised I didn’t learn about that in my American history classes,” said Seyfried — who starred in “Mamma Mia!” Had acted in! – told Reuters. “This woman is a leader of the Shaker movement.”
The Shakers were a Christian movement also known for their celibacy and ecstatic worship to ward off evil.
The film, directed by Mona Fastvold and distributed by Searchlight Pictures, is based on Ann Lee, who has been heralded as the Female Christ by her followers.
In the film, Ann Lee’s goal is to establish a utopian society where the Shakers worship through song and dance based on real American history.
Along with Seyfried, the film stars Lewis Pullman as Ann’s brother William Lee; Christopher Abbott as Abraham Standerin, Ann’s husband, and Thomasin McKenzie as Ann, Mary Partington’s follower and friend.
Like Seyfried, Pullman did not know anything about Ann Lee before working on the film.
He said, “The more you learn about him, the more it seems like he should be an important person in history.”
Pullman described the real Ann Lee as a humanitarian who advocated for the rights of all.
For both Pullman and McKenzie, it was impressive to see how Seyfried captured both Ann’s pain and powerful presence.
The musical elements of the film were an important part of the movement’s story, as the Shakers used song and dance to worship God and advocate for equality.
It was revolutionary for Seyfried when she realized that for the role of Ann, her singing was about more than giving a good performance.
The “Dear John” actor said, “I’m singing for a living. I’m singing for the sound, not for the performance. It’s like oxygen. It’s definitely changed my perspective on what it means.”
He said, “It’s musical but not in the way we know musicals.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
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