Amanda Seyfried Recalls Uncomfortable Nude Scenes at 19: “Wanted to Keep My Job”

Amanda Seyfried has been acting for decades, and after years in the industry, she’s got a few unsavory stories to share. The actress, who has appeared in hits like Jennifer’s Body, Mean Girls and more recently, The Dropout, told Porter magazine about some uncomfortable instances earlier in her career that happened before #MeToo shook up Hollywood.

While Seyfried said she emerged from the era before #MeToo “pretty unscathed,” she recalled one memory from her teen years that she sees differently now as an adult.

“Being 19, walking around without my underwear on – like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen?” she asked herself, per Porter. “Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why.”

Seyfried did not specify which set she was referring to, but it’s not the first time she’s pointed to an uncomfortable past experience in Hollywood. Her comments to Porter come after she shared the gross aftermath of her iconic Mean Girls role, in which she played Karen, a high schooler who claims she can predict the weather with her breasts.

Karen, the ditzy member of the Mean Girls clique, clutched her chest in one infamous scene from the 2004 film and recited the line, “It’s 68 degrees, and there’s a 30 percent chance that it’s already raining,” while rain very obviously poured onto her.

Seyfried told Marie Claire she received disgusting responses from boys who had seen the movie and would ask her about the weather. She told the magazine, “I always felt really grossed out by that. I was like 18 years old. It was just gross.”

Since her time in Mean Girls, Seyfried has established an impressive, respected career in film and television, and she told Porter she feels secure in herself and her work.

“There’s a respect level that I have never felt so fully around me,” she said. “It has nothing to do with any level of fame or recognition or critical acclaim. Whatever it is, it’s not because of Mank, it’s not because of The Dropout, it’s not about having seen my movies. I’m respected because I’m 36 years old and I know who the fuck I am.”