AMANDA SEYFRIED:I’d already listened to the podcast and seen [HBO documentary]The Inventor.
And I saw I think it was a20/20episode.
That was well before I signed on to the show.
Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews juice up in ‘The Dropout’.Beth Dubber/Hulu
So I came with a big suitcase full of knowledge, or knowledge from specific perspectives, for sure.
It was just so much information.
I never went to college, so this felt like I was cramming in a really exciting way.
“So no one ever has to say goodbye too soon…” that didn’t last long.Beth Dubber/Hulu
NAVEEN ANDREWS:I wasn’t familiar really with it at all.
I had a very cursory knowledge of what was in the media at that time.
So I was just dimly aware of it.
It wasn’t until the script came and talking to Liz aboutThe Dropoutthat I became immersed in it.
And in preparing for these roles, did you learn anything that surprised you?
And that was something that I wanted for myself.
It started with her, I think.
So there was a romantic aspect to the story as well [that surprised me].
SEYFRIED:Naveen and I started out on the same page from the jump.
We were both very fascinated by the relationship and the intentions of Elizabeth and Sunny.
It really felt like a team effort to bring the writing to life.
That was really freeing.
Amanda, did you feel that you needed to empathize with Elizabeth so you can play her?
SEYFRIED:Of course!
Elizabeth’s deep voice which some say is fake is so central to this character.
How did you create that?
I worked pretty hard with my voice coach on it.
You hope that those mechanics will approach something real, and when that happens, it is quite thrilling.
So that was oddly reassuring.
And that was amazing.
Liz Meriwethertold meshe would be up late making changes to the script during filming.
ANDREWS:Oh, yeah.
We’d get [new pages] the next day when we were shooting.
Because I’m old, my reaction is more like,Why?
And I can’t thank her enough for that.
