Amanda Seyfried has explained why she turned down the role of Gamora in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, admitting she feared the film could damage her career.
The part eventually went to Zoe Saldana, who has since reprised the character in four other films. Seyfried had previously joked that Marvel had not contacted her again after she rejected the role.
Speaking during a career retrospective with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, Seyfried said the decision had seemed obvious to her at the time.
“I think turning down Guardians of the Galaxy was just so obvious to me at the time,” she said. “I’m like, ‘This is not going to be a hit. The tree and the raccoon are talking to each other.’ And I was just like, ‘This will ruin my career if this is bad. And there’s a high chance that this could be bad.’”
Although she acknowledged that her judgement had been wrong, the actress said she did not regret turning down the part.
“I mean, obviously I was wrong. But I still don’t take back that decision. I made it for myself. I made it for my family that I knew I wanted to have,” she said.
Seyfried also cited the demands of making a superhero film, including lengthy periods in the make-up trailer, stunt work and heights.
“And I just don’t want to spend all the time in the makeup trailer. I just can’t sit still anyway. And I really don’t like stunts, and I don’t like heights, and I don’t like pretending the entire world. I need something to hold on to,” she said.
Asked whether she would consider appearing in a superhero film in future, Seyfried replied: “No, unless the superhero’s just, you know, walkin’ a lot.”
The actress has previously said she would find it “so much more fulfilling” to film scenes involving “another human, doing human things, talking about real life”, and did not think she would have been happy taking on the Marvel role.
