“It was almost therapeutic”: Amanda Seyfried on playing a deeply flawed character in Long Bright River at Series Mania 2025
After over 20 years in this business, Amanda Seyfried has starred in everything, from cult camp classics and artistic cinema to exuberant musicals and sugar-coated rom-coms. Now, she’s in her TV show era, with Peacock’s Long Bright River – and it’s the first time we see her wearing a police uniform.
“I have always wanted to play a cop,” the Emmy and Golden Globe recipient admits with her calm and soothing voice at Series Mania 2025 in Lille. Arriving in France for the event to promote her latest show felt like a “huge responsibility”, she confessed.
“There was a defining moment when I realised my character isn’t a typical on-screen cop. She is also a human being who happens to work in the police for specific reasons.” For Seyfried, the uniform wasn’t only a costume. It was something more. Though, as she puts it, “the clothing does help” to get things started.
Peacock’s production is adapted from Liz Moore’s novel from 2020, telling a story of Mickey Fitzpatrick (Seyfried), a police officer working in Kensington, Philadelphia’s high-crime district, due to the opioid crisis. Mickey’s life drastically changes when she learns her sister, Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings), is missing. It’s a case strongly connected to both their past and Kacey’s recurring addiction.
Seyfried reveals that some hidden family secrets will see daylight. “And yet, Mickey finds liberation in it. She has a chance to become a better person.”
“To solve this case, Mickey has to reflect on her past and its complexity. She confronts her estrangement from Kacey. People come for a murder mystery, but stay because of the family,” Nikki Toscano adds. She is Long Bright River’s showrunner, known for her work on Prime Video’s Hunters. Toscano and Moore (also present in Lille) were responsible for writing the adaptation’s script.
Mickey has her back against the wall. It’s a moment when she needs to find a balance between the “personal” and “professional”. And the fact she’s not an excellent cop – to paraphrase Seyfried – doesn’t really help. Sometimes, Mickey reacts too intensely or acts against her superior’s orders. Is the river’s current going to be too strong for her?
Despite the stakes, the show never forgets that Seyfried’s character isn’t only a local authority. She’s also a mother, a friend, an ex-partner and her father’s daughter. Becoming Fitzpatrick made Seyfried’s arrival on set “quite difficult.” She describes Mickey as a deeply complicated and flawed character.
“A struggling human being,” Seyfried calls her a few seconds later. It’s the kind of role that any thespian only dreams of.
“The thing about acting is that you never know what it will bring. You think you have an initial idea of how you’re gonna portray your character. And then you finally put on the uniform, talk to real cops and start seeing this job from a brand-new angle. I treasure my work because it lets me explore all these different situations and people,” she says.
Seyfried started out wanting to see where the research would lead her. Becoming a cop wasn’t just sticking to a script and learning her lines by heart. “We were working our asses off. I did a lot of underground research,” the actress admits. “To tell the truth, I was attracted to Mickey due to my personal experiences.”
Long Bright River’s star grew up with a similar relationship to people struggling with substance abuse. Becoming Mickey was like a “visceral thing” to her, as she could bring back her memories on screen. “I found this experience tough but worth it. I guess it was almost therapeutic,” Seyfried reveals and looks surprised by the words that came out of her mouth. One can tell Seyfried treats the entire topic rather seriously. At this moment, her tranquil voice is slightly stronger, self-assured even.
As a mother of an eight-year-old daughter and a five-year-old son, Seyfried knew how to approach acting with Callum Vinson, who plays Thomas, Mickey’s child. “Shooting with kids is challenging, and you can imagine why. They are animals! It can be tricky depending on the age, but Callum is incredibly in tune with what is required from him on set.”
Seyfried developed a relationship with Vinson’s mum, who was always there on site. “It also helped us to bond. I don’t know what it is with that kid, but we really enjoyed the process.”
The talented young actor did not receive the same recognition as a slightly older Owen Cooper from Netflix’s Adolescence, but it might only be a matter of time. Variety has announced that Long Bright River was recently sold to practically all major markets worldwide, including Channel 4 (UK) and Max (Central and Eastern Europe).
Thinking about it, Seyfried’s appearance in Long Bright River is barely a surprise. Throughout the years, she has been carefully choosing every next project and was a couple of steps ahead with her planning. Seyfried has never been pigeonholed or typecast because she’s in full control of her star image. She sang in Mamma Mia!, fell in love in Letters to Juliet and was one of the Mean Girls, but she also seduced in Chloe, lied in The Dropout and fought depression in the underrated A Mouthful of Air. This is only a part of the Hollywood chameleon’s filmography.
Even if Seyfried was in awe of Toscano’s and Moore’s script, she still gave it some thought. This is why she has been on the radar for over 20 years.
It might be stating the obvious, but being around in modern Hollywood in so many different roles and for so long is almost impossible, especially for actresses (once again, The Substance enters the conversation). Today, Seyfried is on another quest. She wants to conquer TV, as Peacock’s crime drama is her third show in the last three years.
Like Kate Winslet’s Mare of Easttown, Seyfried’s Mickey is also a working-class character embedded in a working-class neighbourhood. The reviewers’ criticism of Long Bright River claims that there is room for only one show about a female police officer. For them, other titles are generic rip-offs. “Our show is just an easy grab for everybody,” Seyfried says.
The Oscar-nominated actress has an immediate answer for the critics’ claims: “We have a woman as the main heroine, and she’s a cop based in Philly, but that’s it, right? It’s just an obvious simplification, which probably comes out of laziness. We need to keep telling stories like this; that’s the point. The audience should learn about those people’s struggles and their real situations. It enables people to find more compassion. Our show reminds viewers to offer space, either emotionally or actively, to those suffering from addiction. The more you can relate to a character on television, the bigger impact it might have.”
“There is room for everything. Don’t be misled by such opinions,” she adds.
Owing to its vast research, Moore’s novel thoroughly depicts how addiction takes over the entire family. This is why Peacock’s show is not only a crime drama – it’s also an American portrait of a multi-generational trauma and an autopsy of living in one of Philadelphia’s most dangerous neighbourhoods.
Moore and Toscano invited numerous community members to make this project more accurate. “We gave them some small roles, and they brought the authenticity we needed. Thanks to this, the show has many non-actors appearing, bolstering the realism,” Moore recalls.
“Amanda and the other actors were generous in welcoming everyone on set. This is when I learned that she has so much dedication and compassion in herself,” she says.
The show’s narrative is based on reality – it tells the story of actual victims and their crises. For Seyfried, shooting Moore’s adaptation meant meeting and talking to people in Kensington. Seyfried underlines that most of them are still struggling with their personal demon: a drug addiction. It is an ongoing issue in Philadelphia, and the show’s main goal is to increase the audience’s awareness.
“They allowed me to understand what I have to do with my character,” Seyfried explains.
In the end, Long Bright River only imitates real life. Seyfried believes it’s a microcosm known by Moore and people living there, while she’s only “a part of a story”. “I’m just playing in this show, that’s it. I suppose I will never be able to truly understand the world they live in. But at least I can try.”
Jan Tracz
Long Bright River is released on Peacock in the US on 13th March 2025 and will be released on Channel 4 in the UK later in the year.
Watch the trailer for Long Bright River here:
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