It’s 3 p.m. on a gorgeous sunny day in Los Angeles, and Amanda Seyfried is sitting at an outdoor café, wearing a light-blue long-sleeve button-down and shorts, her signature glamorously wavy blond hair peeking out from a mustard-yellow cable-knit cap that she made herself. In a bag on the table is a DIY dog-collar kit for Finn, her blue-eyed Australian shepherd who lies lazily at her feet. The actress isn’t hiding under huge sunglasses, sitting in a dark corner, or ignoring the passersby who stop to pet her adorable pup. (In fact, she’s chatting them up, making it difficult for anyone to get a word in edgewise.)

Amanda is the rare young star who has managed to continue to thrive in Hollywood despite having no background in anything remotely Disney or Nickelodeon, and in case you haven’t noticed, she’s having a moment. In the past year, the 24-year-old actress from Allentown, Pennsylvania, has hit a movie genre trifecta—Dear John, a Nicholas Sparks tearjerker; Chloe, an indie thriller; and this month’s rom-com Letters to Juliet. And beyond the occasional red carpet and the Oscars, where she presented alongside Miley Cyrus, the paparazzi have generally left her alone. The closest they’ve gotten are a few snaps of the actress with beau (and Mamma Mia! costar) Dominic Cooper, although one guy was daring enough to follow Amanda and Finn on a recent six-mile hike.

“I don’t really care about paparazzi—like, I’m not wearing makeup right now and I should be—but when someone follows me around on a day like that, a really wonderful, beautiful day . . .” she trails off. “Had I known he was there, I would have been really upset.” Amanda’s going to have to get used to it.

A breakout role as Sophie in 2008′s Mamma Mia!, alongside Meryl Streep, launched the career of the actress, who got her start on daytime soaps As the World Turns and All My Children, but it was her big-screen debut as the ditzy Karen in Mean Girls that first made audiences take notice. “People still come up to me and say, ‘You were really funny in that,’ and I’m like, It’s not me. Tina Fey wrote everything I said!” she says, laughing. “I think I impressed a lot of people in Mean Girls. I don’t know how I pulled that off.”

Proving that her comedy chops weren’t just a fluke (or a gift from Tina Fey), Amanda shined as the nerdy Needy in last year’s Diablo Cody–written horror-com, Jennifer’s Body. Though it didn’t exactly blow up the box office, the film catapulted her into the spotlight. At the end of 2009, she announced that this past season of the HBO drama Big Love would be her last. And after Dear John made over $30 million in its opening weekend, Amanda moved from actress to star. Letters to Juliet is sure to make her a bona fide celebrity.

In it, Amanda plays Sophie, a young woman who travels to Verona, Italy, the home of fiction’s most well-known tragic couple, Romeo and Juliet. Sophie finds an unanswered love letter and chases down it’s owner, Claire (played by Vanessa Redgrave), in an attempt to make things right.

One would think that starring in two heartstring-tugging films in a year would turn even the most unemotional realist into a romantic. For Amanda, whose parents have been together for almost 30 years, that’s simply not the case. “It’s fun to play characters who have these ideals that you don’t have. Like, in Dear John, Channing [Tatum] and I had such a good time because we were pretending to be in love,” she says, but even though Letters to Juliet was “very romantically shot in a very romantic place,” it didn’t change her perspective. “A lot of people ask me, ‘Is Dominic the one?’ I don’t know, and I’m fine with that. Too much planning can lead to heartbreak. Love is great and possible, always, but it’s very rare to have the feeling that ‘I want to be with this person forever.’”

Lest we peg Amanda as a stone-cold cynic and revoke her membership in Hallmark’s card of the month club, she does melt a little when she talks about her past relationships. “I can’t remember if he said I love you first, or if I did,” she says of her first serious boyfriend, Micah Alberti from All My Children, at age seventeen. “But I do remember when my ex Jesse said it to me. It took my breath away.”

Her passion is most evident, though, when she talks about her craft, especially the process of deciding whether or not to sign on to a movie. For her next two films, Albert Nobbs and The Girl With the Red Riding Hood, Amanda fell head over heels for the directors (Rodrigo García and Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke, respectively) and said yes to both projects almost immediately. This impulsive creativity might make life hard for her agent, whom Amanda has been with since day one, but it’s a good demonstration of the driving force that makes her performances so vibrant.

“I had no idea if I wanted to do Red Riding Hood, but I sat with Catherine for, like, two and a half hours that first day, and she was amazing,” Amanda remembers. “She is who should be a big Hollywood director, making cool-ass movies. She has such an imagination. I was like, OK, I’m doing it. Done.” And that was before Amanda had even read the script.

When she’s not filming, Amanda spends a lot of time at her piano, a gift from Letters to Juliet director Gary Winick, which has inspired the classically trained singer—who has written a song with Damien Rice and contributed songs to the Mamma Mia! and Dear John soundtracks— to return to her musical roots.

These days she’s listening to a lot of A.A. Bondy and Deer Tick.

After a chance meeting with singer/songwriter Joshua Radin at the Soho Hotel in London a few months ago, Amanda agreed to record a duet with him, but she has no intention of making this her full-time, or even part-time, career. “I love being the background voice,” she says. “But I’m not interested in being in the spotlight.” The actress, who lists Miu Miu, Stella McCartney, and Alexander Wang as some of her favorite designers, is equally as chill about her personal style, describing it as “comfortable and simple with a little edge.”

That’s pretty much Amanda’s M.O. There was some drama earlier this year when the blogs (falsely) reported that she was being difficult about committing to a Mamma Mia! sequel, holding out for more money, but in reality, she is as low maintenance as it gets. And she has a strict “no expectations” philosophy that keeps her grounded and has solidified her reputation as one of Hollywood’s most down-to-earth glamour girls: “I am successful now, and it’s wonderful. But the reason it is so wonderful is because I didn’t expect it to happen.”

Edited for teenvogue.com. For the complete story pick up the June/July 2010 issue of Teen Vogue, on newsstands May 25!

You hear about the pressure in Hollywood to be young and skinny. Do you feel that?
Hell yeah! From myself. When I see a scene in a movie where my belly sticks out, I’m like, that doesn’t look good, I’m not going to do that for the next movie. And then I never get there for the next movie; I still have a pudgy belly. The reality is, I look back and has my body every been that drastically different? No! So what are the chances of my having a six-pack for the next movie? Slim to non. So why live and breathe exercise when I know I’m just going to eat crap? Moderation is key. You can change your body to an extent, but if it’s taking all the time out of your day and taking up all your thoughts, what’s the point? The point is, it should be that important.

What’s the hardest diet you’ve ever tried?
A five-day raw food diet I’ll never do again. I go to this raw foods place everyday, and they do super-cleanses every month for 5 days. I was like, oh, I have to go on a press tour in six days, so I’ll try it! It’s really hard! I’d get really, really tired and hungry at three p.m. everyday because there was nothing to eat. Dinner would be cucumbers and kale and dressing. In the morning, you feel great, you’re doing a liver cleanse and eating raw oatmeal and blueberries and drinking great shakes. But at the end of the day, if you can’t have girl scout cookie and piece of cheese, what is life all about?

So do you just eat whatever you want now?
Yea, I want the raw stuff in the morning. I want the shot of chlorophyll or the ginger lemon drink or the asahi and hemp granola drink. But for lunch, I want a piece of pizza.

What do you do to work out?
Running a half hour four to five days a week keeps me alright–five days, because I feel guilty when I don’t. I also go to Harley Pasternak’s three times a week, and I love it. He’s fun and we do different things every time. It’s 45 minutes, and he kicks my ass! My legs are really strong, and I feel really great. And I go to my pilates teacher, Nikiko, on the weekends–she’s all about stretching and toning and being long and lean.

Did you work out like a maniac for your nude scene last year in Chloe?
No, I was running for a half hour on the treadmill every day but I didn’t have a trainer. I think people like to see a little bit of excess. I think women love that, and I don’t think men care. I feel better when I’m toned and not soft, but it’s hard to get rid of the soft parts. I’ve proven to myself it’s probably never going to go away, but I’m still trying to maintain.

You’ve had such a big year –do you feel like you’ve finally “arrived”?
I’ve been an up-and comer for so long that I do finally feel like I’ve established myself. I don’t quite know where yet, but I do feel like I’ve had enough under my belt for people to be able to trust me. I mean, I’m really insecure! I’ve always been. But at least I feel a little more confident now.

What are you insecure about? Your acting? Your looks?
Both. It’s very hard for me to watch a movie anymore with me in it. I used to not care. But recently I’ve been playing the romantic lead, and in order to be a romantic lead, you’ve kind of got to be pretty in my opinion. Clearly, some people think I can play the attractive girl. That is still a mystery to me. It’s a face thing–I pick apart my face. I guess we’re naturally inclined to want to change things about ourselves, and that gets heightened when I’m watching on a big screen. And it’s OK. Sometimes you wake up and you like it and sometimes you don’t. As comfortable as I am with myself day to day, watching it? It’s just strange.

How do you get over that insecurity?
If we’re so busy trying to change ourselves, especially aesthetically, we’re going to miss out on more important things. I used to live and eat and sleep by an exercise schedule, and I just couldn’t enjoy myself if I didn’t exercise. And then I realized, what a waste of time! Just praying I’d wake up a little fitter, a little more toned. It’s important in the grand scheme of things to keep in shape, but if you’re always worrying about imperfections and how you look, these things aren’t going to change for the most part. The thing you can change is the way you perceive.

What’s the best advice you’d give to a woman struggling to keep a positive body image?
I’d say, it’s not as bad as you think. You are your harshest critic. If you don’t like your body, you can do something about it. It’s in your control and that should be a positive feeling. Put more time into the exercising. You’ll feel better about yourself for actually doing it, not just for how it makes you look. Endorphins are a godsend. And stop looking in the mirror. I try not to look in the mirror very much–you can’t wake up and expect your body to be different than it was last night. You’ve got to realize that you’re living for yourself, not for other people. Nobody’s perfect. Only in Hollywood are people perfect and that’s because they spend thousands of dollars on trainers and diets and surgeries. That’s what we’re made to feel like we’re supposed to look like but if you put it in perspective, there’s nothing realistic about it!

QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

On accepting her imperfections
“The main thing you can change is how you perceive yourself. Stop looking in the mirror and realize you’re living for yourself, not other people. If we’re so busy trying to change ourselves, especially aesthetically, we’re going to miss out on other, bigger things.”

Her secret to sexy, shiny hair
“That’s easy! Never dye it. My hair is shiny because it is virginal. I dyed it once, but it’s all grown out since then. I also use shampoos that have shea butter and moisturizer in them. Sometimes after i shampoo I comb conditioner through it and put it up in a bun and never rinse it out.” Her shampoo picks: Sally Hershberger, Bumble and Bumble, and Frederic Fekkai.

Why she does not exercise compulsively
“Three times days a week I train with Harley Pasternak, who kicks my ass for 45 minutes. My legs are super stong. I love it! I used to live, eat, and sleep by an exercise schedule and I couldn’t enjoy myself if I didn’t exercise. And then I realized, “What a waste of time!” My soft parts are probably never going away.”

On areas in her own life where she can most use guidance
“I think it’s really just about love. That’s where a lot of my worry and fear comes from. I’ve had long-term relationships and it’s hard to define what they are when they’re over. People have given so much and taught me so much and vice versa, you don’t want them out of your life, so you maintain certain relationships.”

Why she’ll never go raw again
“I just did a five-day raw-food diet, but I’ll never do that again. It’s really hard! I’d wake up in the morning feeling great and go to bed feeling miserable, because dinner would be cucumbers, kale, and dressing. I mean, at the end of the day, if you can’t have a Girl Scout cookie and a piece of cheese, what it life all about?”

She was more dippy than mean in her 2004 film debut, Mean Girls, announcing vacantly that her breasts could predict the weather. But it took a most unlikely confection—the movie musical Mamma Mia!—for the world to see Amanda Seyfried in her full, dewy, wide-eyed loveliness. Since then she has become the go-to girl for modern fairy tales, including Lasse Hallström’s Dear John and the forthcoming Letters to Juliet. But watch for a 180-degree turn in this month’s Chloe, Atom Egoyan’s artsy sexual thriller, in which 24-year-old Seyfried plays the alluring, troubled complication in a failing marriage.

Check out this sneak peek below. Video clip after the jump.

GALLERY LINKS:
Magazine Scans: Vogue (Italia) – November 2009

Thanks to Chloe Sevigny Online for the heads up!

GALLEY LINKS:
- Magazine Scans: InStyle (US) – September 2009
- Magazine Scans: InStyle (UK) – November 2009

Single-Disc Features:
English, French and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
Sing-Along
Deleted Musical Number: “The Name of the Game”
Feature Commentary with Director Phyllida Lloyd

Two-Disc Special Edition Features:
Digital Copy of Mamma Mia!
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
The Making of Mamma Mia!
Anatomy of a Musical Number: ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’
Becoming a Singer
Behind the Scenes with Amanda
On Location in Greece
A Look Inside Mamma Mia!
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” Music Video
Bjorn Ulvaeus Cameo

BluRay Edition Features:
1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French and Spanish 5.1 DTS Surround
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
U Control – Picture-in-Picture
U Control – Behind the Hits
Play with Sing-Along
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Deleted Musical Number: “The Name of the Game”
The Making of Mamma Mia!
Anatomy of a Musical Number: ‘Lay All Your Love on Me’
Becoming a Singer
A Look Inside Mamma Mia!
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” Music Video
Bjorn Ulvaeus Cameo
Feature Commentary with Director Phyllida Lloyd
BD Live – My Scenes Sharing
BD Live – Downloadable Content
BD Live – My Chat
BD Live – My Mamma Mia! Commentary