Amanda Seyfried Blames the Marketing for Ruining ‘Jennifer’s Body’

The 2009 horror-comedy Jennifer’s Body has built a cult following over the years, but it flopped at the time of its release, largely because of its misleading marketing campaign.

In a recent GQ video, Seyfried looked back on some of her most memorable roles. One of them being Jennifer’s Body. “I can’t critique this movie. It’s to me, a perfect movie,” she said.

The film starred Seyfried as Needy, a nerdy character whose best friend is Megan Fox‘s Jennifer, who becomes possessed by a demon and eats boys at their high school. It was directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody (Juno, Lisa Frankenstein.)

The promotion was targeted to male audiences, with Fox seen in sexualized posters and ads. When really, the movie’s themes were about female empowerment and friendship. “If the critics criticize anything, it would be the marketing. The marketing sucked. It just did. And we all agree,” she said.

“Karyn is like a fierce advocate of women in storytelling. She is able to enhance the relationships between women on film and TV,” Seyfried continued. “She put it together so beautifully, and the marketing team cheapened it like it was just a romp, a gory romp. I think they ruined it.”

The Mamma Mia! star praised the film, “The special effects were so incredible, there were stunts, there was like everything that you could want. and girl-on-girl action,” she said. “We were expressing a certain angst in a very, very specific comedic way.”

As the film seems to only get more popular over time, Seyfried spoke about the long-awaited sequel. “I think that Karyn and Diablo were a really good team. And Megan and I are a really good team. I’m looking forward to the sequel,” she said. “They’re working on it. I already said thumbs up. I was like, ‘Whenever you’re ready, I’m ready.’”

Seyfried also told The Hollywood Reporter early this month about a sequel. “It aged well. I think there’s going to be another one of that, too. We’re all game.”

As far as where the characters are today, Seyfried has her own ideas. “I just wanna see Needy in a power position. Not necessarily in a power suit, but in a power position. Maybe she runs her branch of Planned Parenthood or something. She’s a badass. And I don’t know, where would Megan be?,” she questioned. “She’s probably like somebody’s chief of staff, but she’s kind of dead, right? [Spoiler!] But is she? I don’t think she is.”