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Amanda Seyfried surprised audiences with a captivating performance.
Following a screening of her upcoming film, The Testament of Ann Lee, at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York City, the 40-year-old actress joined composer Daniel Blumberg in singing two songs from the film — including a reimagined Shaker hymn and an original song.
In the historical musical drama, directed by Mona Fastvold, Seyfried steps into the extraordinary true legend of Ann Lee, who was the founder of the devotional sect known as the Shakers. In addition to exploring a historic story of grief, power and social equality, the Brutalist’s composer, 35, wrote three original songs to supplement the dozens of hymns he’d adapted from historical sources.
To begin their performance, the pair sat down at the piano to sing “Beautiful Treasures,” an adaptation of a traditional Shaker hymn that accompanies an especially devastating sequence in the film.
“I think one of the hardest things was the week in the studio where I did ‘Beautiful Treasures,’ which is the montage where I lose all my babies,” the Mamma Mia star told Gold Derby in November. “Mona wasn’t feeling it yet, and we would come back the next day to the studio, and I was like, ‘Okay, so, should we try it more talky or whispering?’ She’s like, ‘No, I just want you to lay on the floor and just imagine giving birth.’ ”
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The pair then introduced one of the film’s original songs, “Clothed by the Sun,” which Blumberg had initially recorded with his own voice and a guitar.
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“When I write songs, usually the best ones happen very quickly and naturally,” Blumberg said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “With ‘Clothed by the Sun,’ I plugged in my electric guitar and it all came out in one piece. I think that was possible because the whole world of the film, and Ann Lee’s story was in my bones after having been so submerged in the project for over a year.”
“It was originally written as a solo for her to sing, but it ended up being a duet, mostly because Mona liked the new atmosphere that leaves us with at the end of the film,” he continued of Seyfried’s character. “It has a more contemporary feeling to the song which felt appropriate with the cards on the film explaining where the shakers are today.”
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Beyond the beautiful and chilling soundtrack, the film also embraces the ecstatic movements and vocalizations of the religious sect.
“This did feel like an opportunity where there were just no tethers to anything,” Seyfried explained at the Venice International Film Festival in September. “Basically, I follow Mona into the light and anything goes, because there’s so much freedom, and the only threat is to not use that freedom to your advantage as an artist to go as far deep as you can go to make the craziest sounds. I’ve never been let loose in this way.”
Thomasin Mckenzie, Lewis Pullman, Stacy Martin, Matthew Beard, Scott Handy, Viola Prettejohn, Jamie Bogyo, David Cale, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Abbott also star in the film.
The Testament of Ann Lee is in theaters Dec. 25.
