Fresh off an Oscar nomination for her supporting turn in Mank, Amanda Seyfried has signed on to play Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu's limited series The Dropout, which is based on the ABC News podcast of the same name.
Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon had long been attached to play Holmes, but she "dropped out" of The Dropout back in February. Frankly, I think it was for the best, as like Kristen Wiig, I have a hard time taking McKinnon seriously, as talented as she is as a comedienne.
Once McKinnon exited as Holmes, I began hearing that Hulu was determined to land a movie star for the high-profile role, even making an offer to Saoirse Ronan at one point, according to sources. Those overtures may have been rebuffed, but Seyfried is a solid choice at this moment in her career, and I'm looking forward to her return to TV following years on HBO's Big Love.
The Dropout explores how Holmes raised hundreds of millions to fund the biotech start-up Theranos and became a media darling while hiding the fact that her game-changing blood-testing machine didn't really work.
The show hails from Fox Searchlight's TV division and 20th Television, and showrunner Elizabeth Meriwether (New Girl) will executive produce alongside Liz Heldens, Liz Hannah, Katherine Pope, Victoria Thompson, Taylor Dunn and ABC News' Rebecca Jarvis, who hosted the popular podcast. Seyfried will also be credited as a producer on the limited series, which is expected to start filming this spring/summer.
Seyfried is up for an Oscar for her impressive turn as Marion Davies in David Fincher's Netflix movie Mank, and she'll soon be seen alongside James Norton in the streamer's upcoming genre film Things Heard & Seen. Seyfried recently starred opposite Kevin Bacon in the Blumhouse movie You Should Have Left, and she has also wrapped the indie drama A Mouthful of Air.
Here's hoping Seyfried's trailer is outfitted with top-of-the-line air conditioning, as she's poised for one hot summer wearing those black turtlenecks of which Holmes was so fond. McKinnon may have dodged a bullet there, though she'll have her own costume nightmares to deal with when she plays Tiger King's queen Carole Baskin in a Joe Exotic series coming to NBC, USA and Peacock.