Mamma Mia Here We Go Again saw the original cast reunite - except for Meryl Streep.
Mamma Mia Here We Go Again saw the original cast reunite - except for Meryl Streep.
There are some films that can change an actor's life. For Amanda Seyfried, who became a household name thanks to Mamma Mia in 2008, the role turned out to be much more than just another gig.
"Mamma Mia fused with much of my off-screen life [she began dating the film's leading man, Dominic Cooper]. It's funny how much I got lost in it. My best friends were in it and the film, in many ways, became a part of me."
The original film grossed $900 million worldwide, thanks to its all-star cast led by Meryl Streep and its singalong soundtrack, based on Abba's chart-topping back catalogue.
Lily James plays the younger version of Meryl Streep's character Donna.
Ten years later, the cast has reunited - sans Meryl Streep, whose absence is not fully explained - to see the gang back together.
Seyfried reprises her role as Sophie Sheridan, who is now married to Sky (Cooper) with whom she is running her mother's hotel, Bella Donna, on the Greek Island of Kalokairi.
However, not all is perfect in paradise and the couple has their share of issues. Sophie realises that without her mother, she needs the support of her mother's friends and former bandmates, played by Christine Baranski and Julie Walters.
In a case of life imitating art, Sophie, is expecting their first child.
Seyfried says: "I had just had a baby in real life and Sophie was pregnant, too. And I was like, 'This is crazy. This is the perfect timing to be doing this movie.'
Set to the backdrop of Abba classics, including When I Kissed the Teacher, and I Wonder, other returning cast members include Streep's character's suitors, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, and Stellan Skarsgard. Some new additions to the franchise include Cher, perfectly cast as Sophie's diva grandmother, and Lily James as a young Streep.
Written and directed by Oliver "Ol" Parker, (who penned The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) the film was shot in Croatia, standing in for Greece. Producer Judy Craymer, who created the franchise, explains: "It was very difficult to film in Greece because there weren't any tax breaks to enable us to make the movie there. So it was with a heavy heart that we recreated Greece in Croatia."
Colin First, Stellan Skarsgard and Pierce Brosnan returned for the sequel.
In Sweden last week, some of the cast assembled at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm to promote the movie. Evidently, 10years have been kind to Pierce Brosnan. "Oh my God, I have changed! It's funny. I have one image of myself and then I pass a show window and go, 'Oh boy. Stand up straight! I need to exercise more," he laughs. "But listen, I'm glad to be still at the table. Right?"
In Seyfried's case, the last decade has been completely transformative. Last year she married actor Thomas Sadoski, with whom she has been in a relationship since 2016, and became a mother to their daughter two weeks after the wedding.
"Motherhood has taught me many things about myself. I don't need to hold on to things anymore, like, I don't have that need for approval I was so desperate for, and I'm not as worried about what people think of me. My priorities have never been clearer. I think that motherhood does that to you very quickly," she says.
"As soon as you become pregnant you realise that your life really isn't yours anymore, but in a good way. I've evolved really quickly in some ways since she came into my life, and I'm grateful and I feel like she's really done that for me. I know what's important."
During the filming of the original Mamma Mia, Seyfried was romantically involved with her co-star Dominic Cooper. It must have been a little strange to reunite with him in the sequel under very different circumstances?
"Yes," she laughs. "What was I thinking?" she jokes. "Well, we split up three years after the movie came out and we've been really close friends since."
Cher joins the cast of Mamma Mia for the sequel, Mamma Mia Here We Go Again.
How does her hubby feel about her reuniting, at least onscreen, with her former boyfriend? "Well, I think he has the same issues that I would have if he were hanging out with his ex-girlfriend from a long time ago. When you love someone, you assume everyone else does, too. He probably assumed that Dominic is in love with me the way he's in love with me, but that's just not the case."
Rumours are already flying that a third movie could be in the works. Brosnan laughs. "Jesus! They'd better not wait another 10 years or I'll be sounding like this," he says, feigning the wizened voice of an old man. "This has been an amazing experience for all of us. We watched Amanda, then a 21-year old-girl, grow into a woman. [This time] we'd arrive on set and there she'd be nursing her own baby. "We've all remained friends and we've evolved over time. There's a great poignancy to that."
