What role does Amanda Seyfried play in The Crowded Room? Details explored

The Crowded Room is set to premiere later this month. Based on true events, this series stars Tom Holland as Danny Sullivan and Amanda Seyfried as interrogator Rya Goodwin. The mini-series is inspired by the 1981 non-fiction novel The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes.

One of the most intriguing things about The Crowded Room has been Amanda Seyfried, known for her honest and accurate portrayals. Before this series, she was last seen as the medical fraudster Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout. In this series, Seyfried will star as Rya Goodwin, with whom Tom Holland's character shares his story.

Described as "a single mother who is balancing the demands of a challenging career as she works with detectives after a shooting in New York City in 1979," this role would fit Seyfried perfectly, who is a mother and working professional herself. She spoke about this role at length in a recent interview with Elle.

The Crowded Room will premiere on June 9, 2023, on Apple TV+ with three episodes. It will run until July 28, 2023.

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"I like to keep people guessing"- Amanda Seyfried on her role in The Crowded Room

On paper, this seems like a perfect role for the veteran actress. This emotion was affirmed by the actress herself in her latest interview with Elle. She did say that her role in this series is dynamically opposite to her previous role, but she also revealed how she was glad to do it.

Amanda Seyfried said:

"[Rya] is on the other extreme of the last character I played, and I like to keep people guessing...The writing was so beautiful, and it was also shot in New York City, and it just seemed like the exact right thing to do."

She added some lines of praise for her co-star, Tom Holland, who was reportedly one of the primary reasons for her character's appeal. She added:

"I wanted to work with Tom, I wanted to see him in this role. I thought it was awesome that he jumped at the chance to do it and I wanted to go toe to toe with him. I thought it'd be really fun."

However, The Crowded Room demanded some very difficult acting from the main actors, especially Tom Holland, who expressed this in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Holland stressed on the mental impact caused by this. He said:

"The mental aspect, it really beat me up and it took a long time for me to recover afterwards, to sort of get back to reality,...I remember having a bit of a meltdown at home and thinking, like, 'I'm going to shave my head. I need to shave my head because I need to get rid of this character.' And, obviously, we were mid-shooting, so I decided not to… It was unlike anything I've ever experienced before."

Amanda Seyfried famously started out in Hollywood with her memorable role in Mean Girls. Over the years, she took up many other memorable roles in smash hits like Mama Mia!

The Crowded Room will premiere on June 9, 2023, on Apple TV+.