Seyfried to play Elizabeth Holmes
Last month we posed the question: Who’s up for playing disgraced Silicon Valley CEO Elizabeth Holmes in a Hulu miniseries?
The subject was raised when “Saturday Night Live” cast member Kate McKinnon abruptly departed “The Dropout,” a project based on the ABC News/ABC Radio podcast about the rise and fall of Holmes and her company, Theranos.
And now we have an answer. Holmes will be played by Amanda Seyfried.
Seyfried, who made our list of possible McKinnon replacements but didn’t top it, will serve as a producer on “The Dropout” in addition to starring. She arrives hot on the heels of earning Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for her portrayal of Marion Davies in the Netflix film “Mank.”
Her other feature credits include “Mean Girls,” “Mamma Mia!” “Les Miserables” and “Dear John.” In addition, Seyfried is no stranger to TV, having appeared in shows like “Big
Love,” “Veronica Mars” and the Showtime revival of “Twin Peaks.”
“The Dropout” tells the story of Holmes, who famously dropped out of Stanford to start a company she claimed would revolutionize the health care industry by providing people with quick, lowcost, early detection of diseases and infection using a simple drop of blood. Once valued at $9 billion, Theranos eventually collapsed amid reports its technology didn’t work.
It has been described as a “massive fraud” by federal regulators.
Holmes is scheduled to go to trial in federal court on a dozen felony fraud counts Aug. 31. The judge recently imposed a sevenweek delay in the trial because Holmes is pregnant.
The team behind “The Dropout” podcast will also be involved with the Hulu series. Rebecca Jarvis, who hosted, will executive produce, along with Taylor Dunn and Victoria Thompson.
Hollywood continues to show a lot of interest in Holmes’ story. In addition to “The Dropout,” a big-screen project is being planned with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role.