Amanda Seyfried Shreds the Dulcimer and Covers Joni Mitchell on ‘Fallon’

Jimmy Fallon finally got the chance to break out the dulcimer he always keeps behind his Tonight Show desk just in case any of his guests are adept at playing the instrument — such as Amanda Seyfried.

The actress was on-hand Tuesday night to promote her upcoming TV show, Long Bright River, but the conversation started with her musical talents. After Seyfried and Fallon bonded over their brief stints playing the clarinet as kids, Seyfried said she also played guitar and learned how to play the dulcimer during the pandemic.

“We always have a dulcimer here just in case anyone plays it,” Fallon quipped before breaking out the lap zither. Seyfried, of course, obliged the unspoken request that she play a little something, choosing a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “California.” 

“She wrote a lot of the songs

from the Blue album on the dulcimer, and I learned a lot of stuff from [that] album when the world stopped,” Seyfried said, before launching into a fantastic, crystalline rendition of the first verse and chorus of “California.” 

Along with Long Bright River, a new crime series premiering March 13 on Peacock, Seyfried is set to star in Paul Feig’s next film, the upcoming thriller The Housemaid (which also stars Sydney Sweeney, Brandon Sklenar, and Michele Morrone). 

Seyfried has another musical on deck, too — not Mama Mia 3 (unfortunately), but Ann Lee, a historical drama about the founder of the Shakers religious sect. The movie will be directed by Mona Fastvold, who wrote it with her partner, Brady Corbet; Daniel Blumberg — who just won an Oscar for his score for Corbet’s The Brutalist — is set to provide the music.