“I wanted to go toe to toe with him.”
Jun 02, 2023 7:04am
For Amanda Seyfried, signing on for the role as Rya Goodwin in The Crowded Room was a no-brainer. Created by Akiva Goldsman, the psychological thriller was the perfect challenge for the seasoned actress.
“It was a good opportunity for me to stretch into new territory, in that I’m a professional and a mother struggling to balance her life, because it felt really real,” she tells ELLE Australia of her character Rya.
As a professional and a mother herself, Amanda was immediately drawn to Rya – 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.
“[Rya] is on the other extreme of the last character I played, and I like to keep people guessing,” the actress says.
“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.”
“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.”
As his co-star, Amanda saw first-hand how dedicated Tom, who famously plays Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was in bringing Danny to life – as both an actor and an executive producer.
“He was really committed in a way that felt like he knew what he was doing, and he was really grateful for the job. But as an actor, playing a role like that and then being done with work… it’s impossible to turn off,” she says.
“I have my family now, but when I used to work – when I didn’t have my kids or all those other responsibilities I have now – I would have a hard time getting it out. We’re actors, we’re not superheroes.”
“I think we leaned on each other a little bit,” she says, “I hope he knew that I had his back.”
Most of Amanda’s scenes are shot with Tom, as Rya works with Danny to uncover the mysterious past that shaped him, and the twists and turns that will lead him to a life-altering revelation.
The series also stars Emmy Rossum, Sasha Lane, Will Chase, Lior Raz, Jason Isaacs, Christopher Abbott, and Zachary Golinger.
