Amanda Seyfried Takes Centre Stage in Atom Egoyan’s “Seven Veils”
In the world of filmmaking, Atom Egoyan (Exotica, Chloe, The Captive) has long been a master of blending intimacy with complexity. In his latest film, Seven Veils, which he both wrote and directed, Egoyan invites audiences into a world of art, obsession, and adaptation. Starring Amanda Seyfried, the film is a deeply personal project that, according to Egoyan, felt destined to happen.
Now playing in theatres, Seven Veils offers viewers a mesmerizing look at the inner workings of opera, power dynamics, and artistic control—all told through Egoyan’s signature lens.
The story follows an earnest theatre director (Amanda Seyfried) tasked with remounting her former mentor’s most famous work—the opera Salome. As she navigates this challenging production, disturbing memories from her past begin to surface, allowing her repressed trauma to colour the present.
The Salome Connection
Filmed during a live stage production of Salome in Toronto, Seven Veils came with a host of challenges Egoyan didn’t initially anticipate.
“I thought it would be easier,” Egoyan admits with a chuckle. “I imagined I could just be a fly on the wall during rehearsals. Of course, that was completely delusional.”
Instead, the production became a logistical maze—juggling rehearsal schedules, Amanda Seyfried’s availability, and the unique constraints of working with an opera production in repertory.
“You’re very locked into the dates of the production,” Egoyan explains. “The financing has to fall into place, and then you’re dealing with schedules. When I thought of Amanda, of course, she was really busy, having just won an Emmy for The Dropout. The chances of her being available on those specific dates were unlikely. It was a miracle it worked out.”
On top of that, there were additional layers of complexity. “You’re also working around the opera singers’ schedules,” Egoyan adds. “And then there was COVID—we still had restrictions during filming. Honestly, if you look at the probability of it all coming together, it’s almost overwhelming. But you just have to liberate yourself from that and be driven by the passion that it has to happen.”
Egoyan credits the Canadian Opera Company for helping bring that vision to life. “I was very privileged to have their support,” he explains. “If they weren’t in on it, then it would have been impossible.”
For Egoyan, the connection between his own career and the film’s protagonist, Jeanine (played by Seyfried), was undeniable. In 1996, Egoyan directed a stage adaptation of Salome for the Canadian Opera Company—the same production that inspired the backdrop for Seven Veils. That experience deeply informed the film’s narrative, especially as Jeanine struggles with creative control and power dynamics in the rehearsal room.
“There’s a scene where Jeanine tries to stop a rehearsal, but the orchestra keeps playing,” Egoyan recalls. “That really happened to me. No one told me that once the orchestra’s playing, you can’t stop them—it’s too expensive to pause the musicians. I was barking into the “God Mic”, ‘Stop! Stop!’ and they just kept going. I ran toward the stage, and my assistant director literally tackled me, saying, ‘You can’t stop it now!’”
For Egoyan, that moment captured a broader theme of artistic control—or the lack thereof. “It’s such an incredible metaphor for how you think you have control, only to realize there’s another force driving things,” he reflects.
Revisiting Salome in a New Era
Returning to Salome in today’s cultural climate brought new considerations for Egoyan.
“Well, first of all,” he reflects, “In 1996, there was no question of things like trigger warnings or telling people what to expect. We’ve become a lot more sensitive to that now—which is great.”
He also noted the increasing presence of intimacy coordinators in productions—a development he welcomes.
“Issues of intimacy coordinators were not, you know, discussed back then,” he says. “That’s come into it now, which is also really important.”
Yet Egoyan also observed that some traditions within the opera world remain deeply entrenched.
“Perhaps this is controversial to say, but I don’t think the Me Too movement has impacted the opera world the way it has in film or other arts,” he explains. “The opera world feels like the last holdout. There are still singers who carry this sense of entitlement—these larger-than-life figures who create their own mythology. That power dynamic is still very present.”
This power dynamic, and the tension it creates, became a driving force in Seven Veils. Egoyan acknowledges that Salome, with its themes of manipulation, sexual power, and obsession, feels especially timely in the wake of the Me Too movement. “It’s a fascinating environment to tell this story, especially with all the ambition, tension, and competition that happens behind the scenes in opera. These issues are still relevant today,” he says. “You can’t ignore how the cultural climate has shifted. The film sparks a conversation that’s essential to have.”
A Creative Leap of Faith
For Egoyan, Seven Veils was an unpredictable, chaotic, yet ultimately rewarding endeavour.
“You just have to have faith that it will somehow miraculously come together,” he says. “And somehow—miraculously—it did.”
Seven Veils is now playing in theatres.
Photo Credits: Elevation Pictures
