The Testament Of Ann Lee: Amanda Seyfried’s Acclaimed Musical Drama Is Keeping History Alive

Amanda Seyfried stars in “The Testament of Ann Lee,” a unique musical focused on preserving the legacy of its real-life subject. The film, co-written and directed by Mona Fastvold (known for The Brutalist), tells the story of Ann Lee, a spiritual leader who fled religious persecution in England. She came to America and, through her distinctive style of worship, began to gather followers, ultimately founding the Shaker community.

I was really blown away by The Testament of Ann Lee! Amanda Seyfried is incredible in the lead role, and director Robert Eggers has brought together a fantastic cast – Lewis Pullman plays her brother William, and you’ll also recognize Christopher Abbott as her husband, Abraham. Thomasin McKenzie, Stacy Martin, and Tim Blake Nelson are all in it too. It premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and everyone is raving about it, especially Seyfried’s performance – it’s so intense and feels really real. Plus, the movie features some beautiful musical numbers! Right now, it has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so I’m really excited for everyone to see it.

To celebrate the film’s broader release, Ash Crossan from ScreenRant spoke with Mona Fastvold, Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, and Thomasin McKenzie about The Testament of Ann Lee. Fastvold explained that she knew immediately after hearing Ann Lee’s story that she wanted to make a film about it, feeling a strong sense of urgency to bring it to life.

The Oscar nominee understood it would be a huge challenge, knowing few people shared her enthusiasm for the project, but she was determined to tell the story. She felt unstoppable in her pursuit of exploring this woman’s life, especially because this figure was being forgotten by history. The nominee noted the lack of recognition for this important person in major museums across the country.

Mona Fastvold points out that the story of Ann Lee, the founder of the Shakers, is surprisingly absent from the official description of the Shakers at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s American Wing, even though that exhibit was created decades ago. While Shaker villages readily share her story, it hasn’t been widely acknowledged in broader historical narratives. Fastvold was surprised to discover how little known Ann Lee’s story was, initially assuming it was common knowledge taught in schools.

Growing up in Norway, Fastvold initially assumed she was simply unaware of Lee’s story. However, she was surprised to discover that many Americans she spoke with also didn’t know about her. This led Fastvold to extensively research Lee’s life, including trips to the Massachusetts Public Library and Shaker villages, in an effort to learn more about the religious leader.

During her research, she discovered that only three Shakers remain worldwide. According to Fastvold, this is because the Shakers practice celibacy and stopped accepting new adult members in the late 1800s, also ceasing missionary work. Furthermore, in the 1970s, the group became very selective about who could join. Previously, Shakers would adopt children and raise them, but also allowed those children to leave at age 18 if they wished to pursue romantic relationships and marriage.

Over the years, the Shakers have maintained a small presence thanks to a practice they call “Winter Shakers.” People would come to their communities in Maine to spend the winter, receiving food and shelter. They were then free to leave in the spring and pursue their lives, including relationships. While this makes long-term growth difficult, as the director of the Testament of Ann Lee explains, the Shakers have always prioritized individual freedom, never forcing anyone to stay. Interestingly, a new member joined the community soon after the film’s production wrapped, suggesting a potential positive turn for the future.

It’s amazing how a familiar historical story can feel completely fresh when viewed through a new lens. I was particularly drawn to this story’s strong feminist perspective and the opportunity to tell it from a uniquely feminine point of view. We’re really delving into the life of this religious figure with a lot of sensitivity and through a distinctly female gaze.

1 Aspect Proved The Trickiest To Nail For The Testament Of Ann Lee Cast

Someone from ScreenRant told me the movie is gorgeous and praised my performance. They said they always look forward to projects I do that involve music. They were curious about how preparing for this role differed from my work on films like Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables.

It’s funny how similar preparing for Mamma Mia! and The Glorious Ones actually were. The biggest challenge in both cases was learning the choreography – I really struggle with dance moves and need a lot more practice than a professional dancer. But beyond that, the characters Sophie and Ann Lee both sing very naturally, like they’re not performing for an audience, just expressing themselves. Cosette from Les Misérables was different; her singing was much more technical and operatic, which required a different kind of training. I think being 40 and filming this a year ago helped me connect with the emotional depth of Ann Lee’s singing. Ann Lee sang for survival, for worship, and to feel something bigger than herself, and that really changed my approach to singing. Honestly, a lot of the preparation for The Glorious Ones was focused on perfecting the Manchester accent.

ScreenRant: I was very enthralled by that. It’s just such an interesting accent.

The accents in the film actually evolved as we shot. For Lewis Pullman and me, the priority was to sound like we grew up in the same family, which was challenging because we were aiming for a very specific, older Manchester accent. It’s a 300-year-old accent, so we didn’t want it to sound too modern. The difficulty was that we couldn’t really listen to examples from the 18th century – we had to create the accent ourselves. Luckily, we had a fantastic accent coach, Tanera Marshall, who helped us design it. I still feel like I didn’t quite nail it, but ultimately, people are connecting with the movie and enjoying the story, and that’s what matters most.

ScreenRant: What an amazing double feature we’re getting with you.

Okay, so I was chatting with Sydney Sweeney yesterday during a virtual press tour, and someone mentioned they’d binge-watched ‘Christy,’ ‘Ann Lee,’ and ‘The Housemaid’ all in a row. It totally sparked an idea! It struck me as this really powerful, empowering trio of female-led stories, and I thought, ‘We should absolutely collaborate on something together!’ It just felt like a natural fit.

ScreenRant asked about the film and mentioned that Amanda found the accent particularly difficult because there wasn’t much reference material to work with. They then asked me what I found most enjoyable or challenging about the movie.

Let me tell you, tackling the accent in this film was a real challenge. Honestly, the entire cast talked about it every day – it was just so tricky and frankly, a bit intimidating. But if I’m being honest, the acting itself was the biggest hurdle. That’s just the foundation, right? [Laughs] Though, the singing… that really got to me. I actually felt terrible for Daniel Blumberg, the composer. He’s incredibly talented, a real musical genius, but I’d walk into his studio and just burst into tears! Singing in front of anyone is terrifying, and it was a truly horrific experience.

Lewis Pullman: Well, you did wonderfully.

Thomasin McKenzie: You did too, I bow down.

Lewis Pullman explained that the accent he used for the role was very particular and from a time period with limited audio recordings, which created a lot of pressure. He worried about being accurate while also being aware that the British cast members might be critical. He typically prefers to practice and then let the performance settle, but he admired Thomasin McKenzie’s approach of constantly practicing the accent, even while traveling. He felt this helped her overcome her fear because it didn’t allow her to overthink it.

I knew the accent was my responsibility, so I decided to take it on. It was really helpful having one of our actors be from Manchester – he wasn’t fazed by it at all. That actually gave me a lot of confidence; if he wasn’t worried, I figured I didn’t need to be either. We had a couple of people we could rely on for support.

2025-12-25 01:34

1 Aspect Proved The Trickiest To Nail For The Testament Of Ann Lee Cast

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