Amanda Seyfried is on quite the press tour for her new Peacock crime series Long Bright River. But it was a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon where she proves there’s really nothing she can’t do—at least musically.
In the clip making the rounds, Jimmy compliments her talent, citing her role as soprano Cosette in Les Misérables and her fabulous turns as Sophie in the Abba-inspired Mamma Mia movies. (Amanda confirms that she agreed with a past interviewer who suggested Sabrina Carpenter could be a great fit to play her daughter in Mamma Mia 3.)
Jimmy asks if she plays any instruments. Amanda shares she played the piano and clarinet when she was younger. With the latter, she admits, "I only lasted a year because it was hard. And there’s literally no flex with that." She adds that she also plays guitar and then asks Jimmy if he knows what a dulcimer is.
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Fallon knows, but for those who might not, Wonderopolis.com explains that this old, hourglass-shaped wooden instrument "was developed in the American Appalachian Mountains in the early 19th century." They go on, "It’s part of the zither category of string instruments. Some historians trace its roots all the way back to the ancient lyre."
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Jimmy just happens to have a dulcimer behind the desk and asks the audience if they might like to hear Amanda play. The crowd cheers, and Amanda eagerly takes the instrument. "Wow, this is what I learned to play during the pandemic for almost two years." She vamps a bit while pretending to tune. "I would love to play something about a state that deserves a lot of love right now."
"California," she exclaims. "Joni Mitchell. Because she wrote a lot of the songs from the Blue album on the dulcimer. And I learned a lot of her stuff from the Blue album when the world stopped. And I’m gonna play it for you."
She then begins to play, as if she’d been born with the instrument in her hands, and as though she were channeling Joni Mitchell through her very fingertips. Jimmy seemingly gets more and more emotional with every verse.
Lyrically, the song is about aching for her California home, with the chorus returning to some version of this:
California, I'm coming home
I'm going to see the folks I dig
I'll even kiss a Sunset pig, California, I'm coming home
Amanda’s magnificently high range truly encapsulates many folk singers of the 60s and 70s. And coupled with her near-perfect strumming/picking on the dulcimer, the crowd seems downright awestruck.
The comment sections across the internet have lit up, with many suggesting—maybe even demanding—that Amanda play Joni in a biopic. On Instagram, a fan wrote, "Someone make a Joni biopic just to cast her."
And on YouTube, commenters agree. "Epic, beautiful, incredible." One shares, "I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell in the 70s and was absolutely blown away when I heard Amanda Seyfried sing California! Had I not seen her, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between the two. AMAZING!" Another agrees: "She really transcended Joni Mitchell, it brought me to tears, just beautiful."
And this person really nails how this rendition proves Amanda’s talent: "Singing a Joni Mitchell composition well is the acid test for any female vocalist. I’m sure if Joni was listening to Amanda’s interpretation, she would pass her with flying colors. Her tone and phrasing were brilliant."
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Ketel Marte was brought to tears during an MLB game after facing a shameful fan taunt.
Baseball manager's poignant support for a player brought to tears after shameful fan taunt
Whether they’re expecting perfection from their favorite players or, worse, behaving callously toward opposing teams, sports fans often forget that athletes are human beings. But athletic competition has the ability to unify and uplift, even amid such painful and unpleasant encounters. Take, for example, a major-league baseball game held June 24, 2025 between the home team Chicago White Sox and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
A shameful low point occurred when Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was at bat in the seventh inning. Per ESPN, a fan reportedly yelled out a comment regarding Marte’s late mother, Elpidia Valdez, who died in a 2017 car accident in the Dominican Republic. Team personnel, including manager Torey Lovullo, then requested the 22-year-old fan be ejected. (Though he was remorseful and admitted his actions were inappropriate, according to an ESPN source, he was nonetheless banned indefinitely from all MLB ballparks.) "We commend the White Sox for taking immediate action in removing the fan," the MLB said in a statement. Marte reportedly declined to comment.
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While the fan’s behavior is inexcusable, it did spark a powerful and inspiring moment. After hearing the comment, Marte was visibly upset, prompting Lovullo to walk on the field, put his arm around him, and offer some words of encouragement. "[I said,] 'I love you, and I’m with you, and we’re all together, and you’re not alone,'" Lovullo said in a post-game interview, as documented by The Rich Eisen Show. "'No matter what happens, no matter what was said or what you’re heard, that guy is an idiot.’"
According to Arizona Republic, Lovullo heard the fan’s comment but didn’t want to repeat it. “I looked right at [Marte] when I heard,” he said. “I looked right at him, and he looked at the person, as well. He put his head down and I could tell it had an immediate impact on him, for sure."
Elsewhere in the post-game interview, the manager called the moment "terrible" and reflected on why he stood up for Marte. "Fans are nasty, and fans go too far sometimes," he said. "I love my players, and I’m gonna protect them…I’ve known Ketel for nine years. He’s had some unbelievably great moments and some hardships as well and some really tough moments in his life. I know those. At the end of the day, we’re human beings, and we have emotions. I saw him hurting, and I wanted to protect him."
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The following day, the Chicago White Sox X account sent out a message in support of Marte, writing, "We’re with you" and "Baseball is family." On The Rich Eisen Show, the show's host addressed the need to eradicate this kind of toxic athlete-fan interaction: "I was hearing [people saying], 'There’s no place for this in major league baseball.' There isn’t. There’s no place for this in our society. I understand that people are saying the MLB has got to do something about this. Fans have a right to heckle players—this is something that has happened forever…But there is a line."
In another recent, depressing sports moment with a beautiful coda, let’s look to Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder. During the first quarter, Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles tendon—a devastating injury that could potentially sideline him for most of the 2025-2026 season. Following the game, in a lovely display of sportsmanship, Thunder point-guard and league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went to the Pacers locker room to check on his competitor. In a press conference, he said, "You just hate to see it, in sports in general. But in this moment, my heart dropped for him. I can't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening. It’s so unfortunate."
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