The Allentown native plays a Philadelphia police officer in the Kensington-set show based on Liz Moore's book.

For Amanda Seyfried, who’s played both a trend-obsessed popular girl in Mean Girls and a biotech fraud in The Dropout, taking on the role of a Philadelphia police officer in Long Bright River is another challenge in her resume of eclectic roles.

Even before meeting the "Long Bright River" team, Amanda Seyfried believed it was her fate to play a Philly beat cop. The star, who kicked off her career playing Karen in "Mean Girls" and Sophie in "Mamma Mia,

Amanda Seyfried says there were two major reasons why she wanted to star in Peacock's adaptation of Liz Moore's best-selling novel "Long Bright River" -- the location and the fact it cast her against type.

I've always wanted to play a cop,” Seyfried says. “It's like a childhood dream to play somebody that I just was always in awe of, even though it's funny [because] I'm not g

The ‘Long Bright River’ star on her OCD, starring opposite Meryl Streep and how her anxiety informs her characters.

The actress’s role as a Philadelphia beat cop in this Peacock series seems like an odd fit, but that’s the point. “I just wanted to prove to myself that nothing can feel too foreign,” she said.

For Amanda Seyfried, the Peacock limited series offered a rare opportunity to play a character adapted from a book while working closely alongside the author, Liz Moore.

"We can see ourselves in each of these people, and that's the point of storytelling,” Seyfried tells PEOPLE of the show, now streaming on Peacock