Two years after Hollywood announced dueling Linda Lovelace biopics, the first (and possibly only one to materialize), Lovelace, makes its way to the screen on Friday. Starring Amanda Seyfried as the world’s first porn star and Peter Sarsgaard as her skin-crawlingly sleazy husband, Chuck Traynor, Jeffrey Friedman and Robert Epstein’s dual-perspective drama chronicles how the woman born Linda Boreman left the domineering clutches of her mother (a curler-clad Sharon Stone) for a sexually, emotionally, and physically abusive man who forced her into pornography and prostitution.
Just a few hours after attending Lovelace’s Las Vegas premiere on Monday, Seyfried met us in Beverly Hills to discuss the personal responsibility she felt to the late Lovelace, Sharon Stone’s encouragement, and the prop she used to simulate the infamous Deep Throat scene.
You were just in Las Vegas for a premiere of the film. . . Did you have time to do anything fun while you were there?
Amanda Seyfried: No, it was quick. There is nothing really fun for me to do in Vegas anyway, though. The most fun thing for me in Vegas is when I am on the plane taxi-ing and getting ready to leave. [Laughs.]
Did you identify with Linda as soon as you read the script or was it more of a process?
I didn’t identify with her right off the bat. I think that I just felt an intense amount of empathy. Her story is insane and tragic and overall just very depressing. She never really got a break. Her whole life . . . people assumed a certain thing about her and just pigeonholed her as this adult-film icon. They judged her for the choices she made in life, even though she did not actually make a lot of those choices.
As an actor, I’m sure that I’m seen as a one-dimensional figure, like she was seen as a one-dimensional figure. We are all humans, though, with our own feelings and our own story. She tried so hard to tell it, but people didn’t want to listen because they didn’t think she was worthy of being heard.
Even her publisher had a hard time with that. There is a heartbreaking scene where her publisher makes her take a polygraph test because they don’t believe her life stories.
That was a hard scene, not only because Eric Roberts was right there [as the character administering the test]. But that was a turning point for the character, especially when he asks her, “Is your name Linda Lovelace?” Because her whole existence became so complicated. The complexities are a lot to take in.
Did you speak with her friends and family beforehand?
Her kids and her lawyer, Catharine MacKinnon, were very supportive and present. That was profound. It was second best only to meeting her. I also did so much research, though, that it felt unfair that I knew that much about their mother. And then I met them, and in a certain way I almost felt like a stalker. But they are really grateful that we are making this movie and were really complimentary of me as a portrayal.
I imagine that’s a lot of pressure.
Yeah, my god. That was such a battle for me personally to have the confidence to play her.
How was it co-starring opposite Sharon Stone?
I cannot even believe. . . it’s amazing; she’s a legend. She slapped me into the role, quite literally. I think that she saw that I was nervous, and I knew what this meant. My first three days on set were with her. I think it was scheduled on purpose so I could start with the relationship between her and her mother, to see where [Linda] comes from. Sharon is really quite a force. I don’t know if I would have gotten [to the character] as quickly as I did without her there.
You mentioned that she saw you were nervous. How did she put you at ease?
Just by being amazing and being maternal. She let me know that she knew I could do it. Hearing that from someone like her goes a long, long way.
You didn’t see Deep Throat until halfway through filming the movie. Did that change your understanding of the character?
Well, I saw it after the first week of filming, during Christmas break. No, it didn’t change anything at all. It was sweet, actually, because Linda is not good in it. At the same time, knowing what she was really going through, and the backstory, it was really weird to watch it. The fact that Deep Throat exists. . . sometimes I forget that this story is all nonfiction. But I’m not a big porn fan. I didn’t need to see that. . . it’s just kind of gross.
On a lighter note, how did you manage to keep a straight face while acting alongside Peter Sarsgaard’s insanely 70s facial hair?
You don’t. After the last day [of filming], he shaved his muttonchops, and it was so bizarre. I didn’t recognize him, because I had created this relationship with Peter as Chuck and me as Linda in 25 days. Those 25 days were so intense that I just saw him in that way. It was like he was naked.
I love that Peter Sarsgaard without muttonchops seemed naked and vulnerable to you, even after you two had shared those simulated-sex scenes.
The simulations were fun to shoot! Because they are ridiculous at the end of the day. So fun! I mean, I had a popsicle. That was my idea. It was melting all over him. There was a lot of comedic relief. And there are some light moments in the movie . . . because you have to keep parts of a movie like this light. The rape scene was hard, but we trusted each other because Rob [Epstein] and Jeff [Friedman] created the most amazing atmosphere. It all felt safe, so we never really jumped too far.
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