Amanda Seyfried reflects on her ‘really extreme’ obsessive compulsive disorder
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Actress Amanda Seyfried has spoken about her “really extreme” obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
In an interview with US Vogue, the 40-year-old said she was diagnosed with the condition aged 19 during her time working on Big Love, a 2006 TV drama on which she had a supporting role on for the first four seasons.
Speaking to the magazine, Seyfried recalled her diagnosis, and said: “I was living in Marina del Rey at the time, shooting Big Love. My mom had to take a sabbatical from work in Pennsylvania to live with me for a month.
“I got my brain scans, and that’s when I got on medication – which to this day, I’m on every night.”
The publication said the star described her condition as “really extreme”, and she reflected on how it affected her social life as a teenager.
She said she did not take any risks that might have unsettled her mental health, such as “drinking too much alcohol, or doing any drugs at all, or staying out too late”.
She continued: “I would make plans and then just not go. I guess I did make choices.
“I didn’t enter that realm of nightclubs. I gotta give credit to my OCD.”
It has been reported the star has previously spoken about her condition in an interview with Allure magazine in 2016.
According to the NHS website, OCD is a mental health condition where a person has obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours.
Seyfried also went on to talk to the publication about The Testament Of Ann Lee, a new musical biopic about the 18th-century founder of the Shaker religion.
She recalled recording the songs for it, describing the experience as a “thrill”.
The film, directed by the award-winning Mona Fastvold, follows Ann Lee as she forges the radical religious movement that will become the Shakers.
The actress told Vogue US she initially struggled to record the film’s Shaker hymns, and said: “I couldn’t hear it. I couldn’t see it. But at that point I was just like, something needs to change within.
“It’s just a new perspective on what this woman is, and why she sings. She doesn’t sing the way I sing; she’s singing to get closer to God.
“I had to wrap my head around singing from a place within me that doesn’t care about how it sounds.”
Seyfried received a Golden Globe nod for her role in the critically acclaimed film on Thursday.
The actress tied the knot with her husband, actor Thomas Sadoski, in 2017 and the pair have two young children.
Speaking about her son and daughter, she said: “He’s in kindergarten, she’s in third grade, and their classrooms just happened to be next to each other this year.
“I want to bottle it up.”
Seyfried reflected on how difficult it is spending time away from her children for work, and said: “My world’s moving so fast, and there’s so many things I have to do each day and there’s no way I can express what I’m doing.
“I just make very clear every day: I really would rather be home with you.”
Seyfried rose to fame for her role as Karen Smith in hit 2004 romcom Mean Girls – starring alongside Hollywood actresses Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams.
She said appearing in the cult classic did not make her “super-famous”, just “somewhat recognisable and appreciated”.
The actress also starred in the Mamma Mia! films (2008 and 2018), Jennifer’s Body (2009) and Dear John (2010).
Seyfried featured in drama The Dropout (2022), and her performance as biotech boss Elizabeth Holmes won her a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe Award.
The star has more recently featured in box office hit The Housemaid (2025), which film company Lionsgate has announced will return for a sequel, with production due to start later this year.
