THE talented and beautiful actress Amanda Seyfried stars alongside Justin Timberlake playing a tough and feisty gun-wielding action heroine in Andrew Niccol’s In Time. “This is a different role for Amanda” says Niccol, who wrote and directed the film. “She is the one with the gun and I think it was fun for her to change it up. The chemistry between Amanda and Justin jumps off the screen. You can tell they like each other.”

In Time depicts a society where time is money and for the poor there is never enough of it. Everybody stops aging at 25; each person has a genetically engineered body clock which begins to tick once the ageing gene has been switched off. The dystopian world created by Andrew Niccol is corrupt and unjust. For the poor, it is a daily battle to acquire enough time to stay alive. The rich, on the other hand, have centuries and can potentially live forever. There is a yawning gap between the haves and have-nots.

Seyfried’s Sylvia Weis is a privileged heiress bored with her life in the mansion where she lives with her family. She meets Will Salas (Justin Timberlake), a struggling worker who has come into time, a lot of it, and has made his way into the zone populated by the wealthy, who have more than enough time to idle away the decades. Will has been wrongly accused of murder. He takes Sylvia hostage and the pair find themselves running from the law. Together they embark on a dangerous but thrilling journey, racing against time in a bid to destroy the corrupt system and power structure at its heart.

The highly original fast-paced film is entertaining and thought-provoking, examining a familiar youth-obsessed culture and taking that concept to the next very ominous level. In Time is a fascinating exploration of a world where the select few can stay young and live forever, while the rest of the population die young, unless against all odds they find a way of gaining more time.

The film also stars Cillian Murphy, Alex Pettyfer, Vincent Kartheiser and Olivia Wilde, who plays Will’s mother. 

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Amanda Seyfried began modeling at age 11.  In her teens, she appeared in the TV series As the World Turns and All My Children.  Her first film role was in the acclaimed hit comedy Mean Girls (2004). The following year, Seyfried starred in Nine Lives. Her credits include Alpha Dog, Letters to Juliet, Dear John, Chloe, Red Riding Hood, Jennifer’s Body and the huge hit, Mamma Mia. Her next films are Gone and The Wedding. On television Seyfried starred in HBO’s award-winning drama series Big Love.

Looking elegant in a black Miu Miu top and Herve Leger short skirt, the gifted actress sat down in New York (with her dog Finn, an Australian Shepherd, beside her) for the following interview.

What attracted you to In Time?

The attraction was specifically the fact that Andrew Niccol was the writer-director because his concepts are so original.  There aren’t many people who can direct a movie the way he can and write the way he does. In Time is a romance with a lot of different elements. It is also a sci-fi mystery thriller. I just wanted to be part of this world because there is a fascinating heightened reality, also an amazing parallel with contemporary society and the obsession with youth and what we’re going through economically and socially. It just seemed like the perfect project for me, I loved the idea.

Who is Sylvia? What type of woman is she?

Sylvia has all the time she would ever need; she can basically live forever. She doesn’t work.  She doesn’t do much. In her society, people live cautiously because they are afraid of dying. Essentially they will only die if they run out of time. So they eat egg whites, they exercise, they don’t drink. It is a really terrible existence. Here is this young girl who is full of energy and all she really wants to do is live and travel and yet she’s stuck in her father’s mansion following him around to gamble and attend dinners and it’s just a boring existence. She really wants to live and she doesn’t feel that people in that society actually live, which is true.

And that all changes when she meets Will?

When she meets Will she’s liberated and she discovers that the fear of losing all her time and the fear of the unknown is invigorating. It pushes her into a place where she actually feels alive. She has to live with the fear of not knowing if she’s going to be alive tomorrow and I think that if we all knew that we were going to die tomorrow we would do things in a different way and we’d see things differently.

Do you relate to her at all?

I relate to her a lot because she’s a normal young woman who wants to experience as much as she can and I feel like I’m at that point in my life where I want to keep going and keep moving. I enjoy meeting new people and I love seeing new things and traveling, like Sylvia. That’s what she wants.  I come alive when I’m doing something new.

Are you an adventurer like your character?

Well, she’s fearless in some ways and I can’t really relate to that. I’m very cautious when it comes to big leaps of faith. I don’t like physical risks. I’ve played a lot of characters with no fear but I am afraid of heights, for example. I would never consider something like skydiving; I would never put myself through the anxiety of doing that. It seems pointless to me.

You actually do a lot of action in the film though. What was it like working with guns?

It’s fun to run around and feel powerful. It was so demanding though. There are some scenes where we’re holding people up and I have to be pretty badass. We were in a Malibu mansion at one point and I had to stick my gun in someone’s face and scream at him and make him think that I was actually going to pull the trigger and kill him and there was a lot of adrenaline going on in that scene because I was holding a very powerful machine and whether it is loaded, it is capable of killing people. It is definitely exciting because it feels so dangerous. I guess all the great exciting  scenes are when I’m pointing a gun at someone’s face, which I wouldn’t normally feel comfortable doing, but I think a gun can make a girl  feel in control. It is kind of amazing.

You and Justin are running throughout the movie. What was it like wearing  those sky-high heels?

I had my Prada heels and my YSLs (Yves Saint Laurent). I also had a pair of Louis Vuitton boots and they’re all at least five-inches high. It was tough. The second day at work I was running as fast as I could, sprinting 12 miles an hour with Justin because we were running for our lives. If I hadn’t been holding his hand I would have broken my face for sure and I did scrape my legs.So I actually wore “stunt heels” for the rest of the movie that were only three-inches high. Each designer shoe had its sister stunt shoe that was built to look like the original. They were easier to run in.  I needed that look for the film but you do wonder: why the hell wouldn’t she just take off her shoes and run barefoot? (Laughs)  

What do you think is special about the film?

I think the film is a kind of a fusion of Logan’s Run (1976) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967), but I think it also has elements of Robin Hood because we’re really  stealing time  from the rich to give to the poor. I love that aspect of the film. Sylvia resents this world so much that she just wants to make it right. She sees that the system is failing and it’s unfair. Sylvia and Will find each other and it’s wonderful when people meet and have similar ideals. 

What was it like working with Justin Timberlake?

He is easy to work with, he has the most charisma of anyone I have ever met. You can tell by the way he dances and performs. He is also very professional. This was Justin’s first lead role and he controlled the movie. 

The chemistry between you and Justin sizzles. Was that natural?

I think it comes from mutual respect. Even if you feel you have chemistry, you never know how it will translate onscreen. Justin and I have the same sense of humor, which helped, and I’m really comfortable around him. He’s extremely talented. I did a movie with him before too (Alpha Dog). He’s a cool, easygoing person and we just had fun together. The same thing happened when I mad Dear John with Channing Tatum. We had so much fun and I think that’s why it worked on camera. We laughed all the time and I laughed a lot with Justin. It was really easy and we were very comfortable with each other, and that is what you want in a partner. You just have to appreciate the other person.  Also Justin and I  did a lot of scenes that left us breathless and in pain and exhausted and we bonded over that too.

Were you a fan of Justin’s music when you were younger?

Yes, as a kid in middle school (around 11 or 12) I was a big fan. My friends and I used to set up a video camera and dance around wearing ridiculous clothes that were oversized. One of the songs we danced to was “Tearin’ Up My Heart” from ‘N Sync’s first album. I found the video recently when I was at home with my family in Pennsylvania.  I also have videos of me singing for auditions when I was little.

Did you dream of becoming an actress?

I did not have big dreams, which is pretty weird because most kids do have big dreams. I guess I never thought it was possible. I always had a realistic outlook on life and I never had expectations or high hopes. I thought I might just go to college and work as a waitress. Then I thought I might be a Broadway singer at best, but I was never good enough and ended up getting into acting, which was amazing.  

You had your big break in film with Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey. Was that a great experience for you?

That writing was fantastic, Tina Fey is a genius. There is something about the film that was special, one of a kind. I was very lucky to be a part of it. Mean Girls was my first movie and it was so cool.” 

Going back to In Time, you look stunning as Sylvia with an auburn bob and chic outfits. Can you discuss her style?

The idea of the short red hair was entirely Andrew’s. It was great; I feel sexier dressing up and being different. I feel sexier when I put any kind of wig on. It was really exciting because any new look that takes you away physically from yourself helps to create the character. It helps you feel more connected to that character. I’m always blonde and people do recognize me as a petite blonde girl, so being really tall with high heels and a couture look (created by three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood) really helped. My amazing red bob and dark makeup made me feel powerful. It was a very chic look, very put together. In the world Sylvia lives in, the look makes sense because they dress to the nines and take care of themselves. They have all the time in the world to do their hair and their nails and everything is perfected.  

What is your own style like?

There is a big difference in the way I feel when I am wearing a chic jacket with wool pants and high heels and a nice purse, which is what Sylvia would probably wear, and I do wear that kind of outfit sometimes. But I don’t often tend to do that. I like to wear T-shirts and jean shorts.  

What does time mean to you?

I love being busy but at the same time, it doesn’t feel like I’m in a constant rush to figure things out and to get things done. In terms of my career, I love the way it’s going. Sadly, time always runs out, but in this movie you can actually live forever and I think that’s the main question for the audience:  What would you do if you had all the time in the world?

What are your thoughts on the idea of living forever?

I feel like the more money I make, the bigger percentage I want to give back. So I’d probably do the same if I had a million years, I would give more away. I think it would be hard to be inspired by anything if you were going to live forever. The fact that we have limited time on this earth makes us motivated. If we had infinite amounts of time, we would probably move much slower and not get a lot of things done because we could get distracted so easily. If I could live forever, would I learn every language? Yes, but it would take a thousand years to do it. When you have a schedule and plans, you don’t have a lot of time and you get things done.  

Is charity and philanthropy important to you?

It is important. When you did not grow up with a lot of money and you work really hard and then you start making money that you’ve never really imagined having, your perspective changes and you start getting used to certain things. I think it’s important to give back a percentage of what you earn to a cause you believe in to help the world and to keep it turning. It is all about give and take. It should be balanced.

What causes are important to you?

I’ve been involved in pancreatic cancer research and now I’m going to go full blast into fund-raising for juvenile diabetes research because my father’s been struggling with diabetes since he was 12 and I’ve learned a lot about it. I have discovered that there really isn’t a lot of funding.

Your career so far has been extraordinary, you have achieved so much. Is there a dream role that you would love to play?

I would love to play (the late singer) Eva Cassidy. That is my dream role because her story is pretty interesting and she was a beautiful person.