Amanda Seyfried Says ‘It’s Really Hard’ Balancing It All (Excl)

Amanda Seyfried may have two buzzworthy movies coming out in December, plus a new line of products from her kid company, Make It Cute — but she’s pushing through.

“Honestly, right now, it’s really hard,” she told Us Weekly exclusively of balancing work and motherhood on Monday, November 24. (Seyfried, 39, shares a daughter, born in 2017, and a son, born in 2020, with husband Thomas Sadoski.)

“This is the most I’ve ever worked with two kids, and I’ve never had two movies come out at the same time,” she continued. “And so, I’m a little bit bananas right now.”

Seyfried is gearing up for the release of Paul Feig’s The Housemaid on December 19 and Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee on Christmas — both of which have earned her a slew of attention and career-best reviews.

“Oh, my God, they couldn’t be more different,” she told Us of the films. “I’m very equally proud of both. I’ll be honest, The Housemaid is … do not read [the book] until you’ve seen the movie because then it will ruin the twists for you.”

She teased of the thriller, which costars Sydney Sweeney, “This is exactly what we needed, especially around the holidays. Do you know what I mean?”

The holidays are busier than usual this year for Seyfried as awards season is fast approaching and her toy brand is finding its stride. Make It Cute, which creates playhouses and craft kits made from sustainable materials, recently launched a creative DIY kit that lets kids build their own tiny houses.

Available in three whimsical themes — Bookshop, Bakery and Fairy House— each $19.99 kit is made of paper-based materials and plant-based inks and includes pop-out pieces, sticker sheets and eco-friendly accessories designed for kids to make, play and display.

“We build what we want and we build what we know doesn’t exist,” Seyfried explained of the company, which she cofounded with her childhood best friends, Anne Hoehn and Maureen North. “Since day one, it’s always felt really special and really unique. We started out so big with these [play]houses, and now we’re like, ‘Let’s get small for a second.’ We have these craft kits that are so cute and they’re so easy to make. Kids want to put stickers on them and make it their own, and it’s a really good, tactile, imaginative, fun, create-your-own-world kind of vibe.”

She added, “I love that connection to what kids want because we love our kids. We love our kids. We do anything for them.”

Seyfried said the idea for Make It Cute was born during the COVID-19 pandemic when she, Hoehn and North were FaceTiming and Zooming while in lockdown with their small children.

“None of us were working, and that standstill afforded this kind of space to explore the needs that we had artistically and creatively, and just as people that are used to producing things,” Seyfried told Us. “We would have wine on Zoom or FaceTime or whatever, and we kind of got to talking about things that we could create in the world. It felt like this perfect opportunity to put our heads together.”

She added of Hoehn and North, whom she met in elementary school in Pennsylvania, “I mean, they’re my mom group. We all had our first kids at the same time and there was that connection too, and we just leaned on each other. … It was a community I didn’t have anywhere else, in that way, that shorthand and the ability to joke about crazy things, and the ability to call in the middle of the night and say, ‘I think I’m this many centimeters [dilated]. What do you think? Should I take a bath?’ It’s the most intimate and supportive and comforting little community.”

On top of all that she has going on, Seyfried is getting ready to celebrate a milestone birthday on December 3 — and she’ll be doing it with her besties by her side.

“We’re doing a little pop-up in two weeks up where I live [in upstate New York], so that’ll be fun,” Seyfried said. “They’re going to be with me for my 40th birthday.”

Seyfried admitted that, although she can “go a little bit black” when she’s off filming a movie, she tries to be readily available to her girlfriends and relies on them to keep her sane as a working mom.

“We did a bunch of trips this year together, which is always fun, because we have girls’ night out, and it’s necessary when you have two kids each. It’s been really fun, actually, because there’s always something [planned],” she told Us. “It’s so nice to have those relationships. We’ve been through adolescence [together] and to still be friends with them? They’ve seen [me] at, you know, really insane, chaotic times.”

Make It Cute’s Tiny Craft Kits are available now. The Housemaid hits theaters on December 19, and The Testament of Ann Lee will be released on December 25.