Here she goes again

Letters from america : Seyfried in Dear John. Photo / Supplied

She may have begun her career as one of Lindsay Lohan's wildly superficial cohorts in Mean Girls playing the quintessential dumb blonde, however, Amanda Seyfried, 24, has proven to be quite the savvy risk-taker, making some smart (albeit unusual) decisions and reaping the big pay-off.

Hollywood sat up and took notice when this then-unknown doe-eyed blonde sang, danced and acted her way through the Abba-inspired, breakout blockbuster, Mamma Mia as the daughter of Meryl Streep. She followed with a somewhat provocative role opposite Megan Fox in Jennifer's Body and became tabloid fodder for describing her much-downloaded onscreen kiss with Fox as "traumatising." She then ventured into the "dark side" as a call-girl and lover of Julianne Moore in the drama Chloe. While her success as a film actress was beginning to take shape, she maintained her role on TV as a regular on our favourite polygamy-practising family show, Big Love.

In her next turn, in Dear John, opposite Channing Tatum (GI Joe, Fighting) Seyfried returns to mainstream fare in this upcoming romantic tearjerker based on the best-selling novel by The Notebook scribe Nicholas Sparks, and is directed by the equally sentimental Lasse Halstrom (The Cider House Rules).

"I love a good cry," Seyfried declares, laughing about the sappy nature of this weepy in which a college student meets a Special Forces soldier on leave. He returns to the war-torn Middle East, post-9/11, and the ill-fated lovers communicate via old-school, handwritten letters (hence the title).

"I loved The Notebook, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, and I think Dear John is a beautiful, simple story and incredibly romantic."

Born in Pennsylvania, Seyfried grew up in front of the camera as a child model. She has an older sister, a musician in a rock band, and it was assumed Amanda would follow in her footsteps.

"Music was the main focus in my life from about the age of 11 to 17. I wanted to be a singer and I took voice lessons for years. I thought music was the only thing that would make me happy. It really fulfilled me." Seyfried demonstrates her musical abilities in Dear John where she sings her own lyrics and strums a guitar.

A regular on Big Love since 2006, she has now left the relatively secure world of series television for the unpredictable life of a movie star.

"I was always bummed about going back to the set of Big Love because it meant going back to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is not really my type of place although I loved working on the show. The cast watched me grow up and I've grown up alongside them."

Seyfried doesn't censor herself, which sets her apart from the norm in Hollywood.

"I never thought I'd be able to get out of my television contract. The commitment was too much considering where my movie career was headed and I've lost jobs over not being able to up and leave when I've wanted to."

There's also the pesky issue of her London-based boyfriend, Mamma Mia co-star Dominic Cooper, who recently starred in An Education with Oscar-nominated Carey Mulligan.

"I don't do well when we're apart for too long. We have a two-week rule and we try not to go longer than that."

Seyfried is no stranger to nudity or sexually oriented scenes - with male or female participants.

"Those scenes are always difficult with any gender, any actor, anybody, anytime who is not my boyfriend," she says.

Clearing up the much-ado-about-nothing 'fiasco' concerning her kiss with Fox, she says, "It was the first time I had to kiss someone because of my job. Megan admitted it was uncomfortable for her, too, but she made fun of me for saying that."

Now the new go-to leading lady for romantic dramas, Seyfried will next star in Letters to Juliet, opposite Mexican heartthrob Gael Garcia Bernal. Set in Verona, Italy, it is naturally assumed to be an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

"Yes, I know that's what everyone thinks, but it's not about that," she says, "It's a good title and everyone assumes I'm Juliet, but it's actually about a girl who comes to Italy and finds that people from all over the world come and leave letters at the wall near Juliet's statue. There are women called 'secretaries of Juliet,' and they reply to the letters that have a return address. I find this letter in the wall that's 50 years old, write back, and then Vanessa Redgrave shows up," she says.

"I didn't mean to do another romance straight after Dear John but Vanessa Redgrave was the selling point. Not to mention, I think Gael is the best actor of our generation. And we got to work in Italy all last summer."

Now that Seyfried is joining the ranks of A-listers in Hollywood, she is discovering that her newly acquired, revered position comes with a price.

"It's so much pressure to play a romantic lead because you want the audience to be attracted to you, and you need to feel that you look nice all the time, which is just impossible. So, I'm finding that kind of pressure, along with hopefully being a good actress, is harder than it looks."

LOWDOWN

Who: Amanda Seyfried
What: Romance Dear John
Where and when: In cinemas from April 22.