Amanda Seyfried Sings in Biopic

Amanda Seyfried is back on the musical theater kick, and this time, she’s putting the Shake(r) in her dance routine for the big screen. The actress leads Mona Fastvold‘s musical biopic “The Testament of Ann Lee,” portraying the titular religious leader who founded the Shaker Movement in the late 1770s.

“The Testament of Ann Lee” is co-written by Fastvold and her “The Brutalist” collaborator and real-life partner Brady Corbet. “Ann Lee” was announced in December 2024. It will premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, and later will screen at TIFF 50.

Christopher Abbott, Thomasin McKenzie, Lewis Pullman, Tim Blake Nelson, Stacy Martin, Matthew Beard, Scott Handy, Viola Prettejohn, David Cale, and Jamie Bogyo co-star alongside Seyfried. Ann Lee’s followers deemed her the female Jesus Christ, and her worshippers prayed through song and dance, hence the musical genre for the historical feature. “The Testament of Ann Lee” is shot in 70mm, as was “The Brutalist.”

The logline reads: “An epic fable about religious leader Ann Lee (Seyfried), who was proclaimed by her followers as the female Christ and went on to build one of the largest utopian societies.”

“Ann Lee” features original songs by Golden Globe-nominated “The Brutalist” composer Daniel Blumberg. Choreography comes from Celia Rowlson Hall, the dancer who played the adult Sophie in “Aftersun.”

“The Testament of Ann Lee” is Seyfried’s first musical since 2018’s “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.” She also sang in the first “Mamma Mia!” film in 2008 and “Les Miserables” in 2012. Seyfried has publicly lamented on missing out on playing Glinda in Jon M. Chu’s “Wicked” before Ariana Grande was cast.

Seyfried told Vanity Fair that shooting Fastvold and Corbet’s secret indie film after wrapping the upcoming Peacock limited series “Long Bright River,” was tough. “I went to hell and back,” Seyfried said of the demanding back-to-back projects, with “The Testament of Ann Lee” being shot on location in Budapest, Hungary.

“Ann Lee” helmer Fastvold previously directed 2021 period queer romance “The World to Come,” starring Katherine Waterson and Vanessa Kirby. Fastvold and Corbet both produce “Ann Lee.”

“The Testament of Ann Lee” is one of the many buzzy titles in competition at Venice. “The Wizard of the Kremlin,” directed by Olivier Assayas, Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly,” Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite,” Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia,” Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine,” Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice,” and Jim Jarmusch’s “Father Mother Sister Brother” are also among the features in competition.