Amanda Seyfried, a Golden Globe-winning actress known for her breakout role in the 2004 teen comedy “Mean Girls,” has shared insights into the profound effect her rescue dog Finn has had on her life, particularly in helping her avoid the pitfalls of the entertainment industry.
“I don’t know how I would’ve navigated Hollywood,” Seyfried, 38, told People in an interview published on Oct. 13. “I stayed out of a lot of trouble, I think, because I had that guy to come home to.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, the actress explained that the anxiety she faced in her twenties during her rise to fame, combined with her obsessive-compulsive disorder, made that decade especially challenging.
“My twenties were just hard in general, like anybody’s twenties are hard,” Seyfried said. “I don’t know what my twenties would’ve looked like without Finn. I really don’t know.”
During an Oct. 14 appearance on the “Today” show, the actress elaborated on how Finn helped her to overcome the many challenges of early stardom.
“I don’t know how I would have done life without him,” Seyfried said.
“I think back, and I think in my early twenties in Hollywood and working all the time and moving, you know, cities and countries. How would I have fared? I think I was very grounded because of him. I had a lot of responsibility.”
Finn
Seyfried adopted the Australian shepherd—who turned 15 years old on Sept. 22—while she was filming the HBO drama “Big Love,” which aired for five seasons from 2006 to 2011.“I took him home thinking I was going to, like, find a home for him and have him for a couple of weeks, but I fell in love with him right away,” she told People. “I was just like, ‘I’m going to keep him safe,’ and then he just ended up keeping me safe.”
The “Mamma Mia!” star married her husband, actor Thomas Sadoski, in March 2017. The same month, the couple—who live on a farm in the Catskills Mountains of upstate New York—welcomed their first child, daughter Nina, now 7. Their second child, son Thomas, was born in September 2020.
During her “Today” show segment, Seyfried called Finn her firstborn, noting that he is “very protective” of her two kids.
“He doesn’t like to play rough, so he makes it very clear to my son when he’s playing too rough, you know, he growls a little bit,” she said.
Acting Career
Seyfried made her acting debut on the long-running soap opera As the World Turns, which she starred in from 1999 to 2001. She also appeared in a handful of episodes of “All My Children” in 2003.The actress landed her breakthrough role the following year, starring alongside actors Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, and Jonathan Bennett in “Mean Girls.”
Seyfried went on to star in a variety of films throughout the aughts, including “Nine Lives” (2005), “Mamma Mia!” (2008), “Boogie Woogie” (2009), and “Chloe” (2009). Subsequent films include “Dear John” (2010), “Letters to Juliet” (2010), “In Time” (2011), “Les Misérables” (2012), “Ted 2” (2015), “Anon” (2018), “Seven Veils” (2023), and “I Don’t Understand You” (2024).
In addition to her film credits, Seyfried has also appeared on the small screen, starring in television shows such as “House,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” “Veronica Mars,” “Twin Peaks,” and “The Crowded Room.”
In 2022, the actress won an Emmy for her role in Hulu’s miniseries “The Dropout.” The following year, she garnered a Golden Globe for her performance in the biographical drama.
Seyfried is now set to star in the film adaptation of Freida McFadden’s 2022 bestselling book “The Housemaid.” The psychological thriller, directed by Paul Feig, will also feature Sydney Sweeney, an actress best known for her roles in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Euphoria,” and “The White Lotus.”
