By: Lynn Barker
Amanda Seyfried (Les Miserables, Mamma Mia!) and Lily James (Cinderella, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) are two excited young actresses stoked on singing, dancing and acting in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Ten years ago Amanda played the character of Sophie, the young, rather wild daughter of Donna (Meryl Streep) in the original Mamma Mia! movie. Sophie wasn’t sure which of three visiting older men was her dad. Now Lily is playing a younger version of Donna and we see how she met the three younger versions of “dad”.
Amanda and Lily at the premiereCourtesy of Universal Studios
Check out what the girls have to say about the fun and emotional music of ABBA, what they hope you get out of seeing the film and more!
Q: Amanda, what’s it like to revisit the Mama Mia! story after all these years?
- Amanda: I’ve been waiting ten years for this in a subconscious way. All of a sudden it was just thrown into my lap and it was overwhelming. But when it started to sink in that I would be back and it was real, I started getting really excited, Every day I get more excited.
Amanda was happy to play Sophie againCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: Is it still fun and exciting to play Sophie again ten years later?
- Amanda: It’s a really special opportunity to come back and play Sophie because I was twenty-one. It was one of my first big movies and I was really, genuinely playing myself. From the very first day to the end credits I was on a high. I was in love (Dominic Cooper) and I had my best friends with me. I was working on a Greek island with all these wonderful actors. Now, I’m coming back ten years later and I have to remind myself that we’re not set ten years later. We are like three, four or five and not as much has changed for Sophie as it has for me.
Lily plays feisty young DonnaCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: Lily, were you excited to play a younger version of Meryl Streep’s character Donna in this film?
- Lily: When I found out I would be part of the sequel for Mamma Mia!, a was equally terrified and excited. It felt like such a huge role to take on because Donna, as a character is so beloved and Meryl Streep is the best actress of all time so I was a bit daunted by the thought of playing her but I also couldn’t have been more excited.
Lily as young Donna (center) sings with her trioCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: What is young Donna’s journey in the movie?
- Lily: You basically get the real insight into her diary. You see her meet these three men and you see this girl’s journey that turns her into the Donna that everybody knows and loves and saw in (the original Mamma Mia!) film so it gives (the character) a context and a backstory. You see her as this flighty young girl who wants more and wants to see the world and isn’t satisfied with the norm and wants to break out and find herself. If it’s falling off the edge of the world, that’s what she wants to do.
Lily James as Donna first arrives on the Greek islandCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: Amanda, were you excited by the script?
- Amanda: When I read the script, I was completely blown away, There is such depth with new dynamics and character arcs that are realistic. When the music stops, you have to deal with things that are sometimes heart-breaking and then the music starts again. That is life, and there are a lot of messages in this story. I can’t think of a better way to continue Mamma Mia!
Young Donna (Lily) partied heartyCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: Is it fun to sing the old ABBA songs?
- Amanda: ABBA music just doesn’t get old. It’s just so happy and relatable and melodic and fun. I just think that it’s timeless. I have a completely new appreciation of their music; there are songs I never knew I loved so much.
- Lily: I think ABBA sang some of the best pop music ever. (Original ABBA band member) Benny Andersson is such a true genius. How he plays each note, it’s magical. I’m so grateful to have gotten to work with him. I think it’s brilliant music and you can dance to it and sing along. It’s so emotive. There is emotion and sadness to the ballads but the upbeat numbers, I challenge anyone to stay in their seat. You just have to get up and dance!
Sophie (Amanda) and Sky with Sophie's grandma CherCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: Lily, what was the whole movie making experience like for you on this film?
- Lily: Making this movie has been a bit like those magical summer holidays you had when you were really young and in love and you think things are never going to get any better than this. I think all the actors feel like that. We didn’t want to leave the island (the remote Croatian island of Vis). There is something magical about it because it is so beautiful. It’s sunny and stunning and I think watching Mamma Mia! feels like that. You feel this joy and abandon and despite how cynical you may be, how old you are or whether you’re a man or woman, you can’t help but be drawn in to the joy of it all.
Sophia and Sky (Dominic Cooper) enjoy themselvesCourtesy of Universal Studios
Q: What would you say about this movie to audiences?
Amanda: This movie is bigger. It’s better and more spectacular than the original Mamma Mia!. I didn’t think it could get better but it is.
- Lily: I think that Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is going to feel so brilliant because we know those characters now so it’s like greeting an old friend. You’ve seen Mamma Mia! and now you are thrown back into a world where you have those characters again and they don’t disappoint and the story is really beautiful and fun but also powerful with this feeling of girl-power and motherhood and independence. I think the story come to life through the magic of the music and the island.
Courtesy of Universal Studios
See Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in theaters Friday, July 20th
Have Your Say
Do you like to sing and dance to musical movies? Did you see the first Mamma Mia! movie on video? Are you a Lily or Amanda fan? Dance on by with a comment!
