Amanda Seyfried Names the Dumbest Movie She Can't Stop Watching
When actors list their favorite films, you usually get a heavy dose of arthouse credibility—Cassavetes, Akerman, Tarkovsky, maybe something with subtitles and a Criterion spine. But Amanda Seyfried? She went in a different direction.
During a 2013 interview with Rotten Tomatoes, while promoting Lovelace, Seyfried shared her top five films—and among the respectable picks like Romeo + Juliet and Mother and Child, she casually dropped Wet Hot American Summer as her all-time favorite comedy.
Her exact review?
"It's just so stupid. It's so good. A classic comedy, made successful by a bunch of fucking ridiculously funny people."
For those unfamiliar, Wet Hot American Summer is a 2001 spoof of '80s summer camp sex comedies, set on the last day of camp at the fictional Camp Firewood. It was directed by David Wain and co-written with Michael Showalter, both of whom somehow convinced an entire generation of future stars to join in on what was basically a feature-length inside joke.
Despite its now-iconic cast—including Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, and Joe Lo Truglio—the film flopped hard on release. Critics hated it. Audiences ignored it. Studios were barely interested to begin with. And with a shoestring budget of just $1.8 million, it was held together with duct tape and sheer chaos.
For reference:
- Budget: $1.8 million
- Critical reception: Bombed
- Box office: Minimal
- Legacy: Two Netflix series (a prequel in 2015 and a sequel in 2017), and enough cult love to make quoting "You taste like a burger. I don't like you anymore" a rite of passage
Over two decades later, it's a full-blown cult classic—and the dumb movie Amanda Seyfried admits she'll always finish if she catches it mid-way.
To be fair, this isn't the most baffling thing Seyfried's done onscreen. She did Ted 2, after all. But Wet Hot American Summer? That's her comfort food. Nostalgic, ridiculous, and completely unashamed.
Honestly, in a world of self-serious actor interviews, it's refreshing to hear someone admit their go-to movie is a commercial disaster about horny camp counselors and talking cans of vegetables.