Amanda Seyfried Wins First Emmy; Says Playing Elizabeth Holmes In ‘The Dropout’ Was “Best Time Of My Life” But “I Was So Over Her” By End Of Show

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read
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In a hard-to-call category, Amanda Seyfried won her first Emmy, for a nuanced portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced biotech entrepreneur and one-time Silicon Valley rock star convicted of criminal fraud.

“Thanks for recognizing me among these amazing actors,” said an emotional Seyfried. “This is a really nice feeling!”

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Working on Hulu’s The Dropout “was the best time of my life,” she added as she accepted her first Emmy, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

But Seyfried told press later that playing Homes was pretty taxing. “I was so over her by the end of the show. You have to delude yourself to a point. I had to delude myself more than normal. I had to have compassion for her. I have never played anyone that long. Every single day I gave it all. I was just done. I gotta throw her away. I didn’t do her voice for two months until the doorman asked, ‘Can you do the voice?’”

She did discover the two had something in common.

“Elizabeth Holmes and I were both on dance teams in high school. I find that really astounding. She was not great and I was also in third row where they put you when you are not that great. The fact we both had that in our past and how I have seen her dance in a way that was not good …. that was one of the ways I connected with her.”

The photogenic, brilliant and disquieting founder-CEO of now defunct Theranos promised worshipful investors a revolution in blood testing using just a tiny drop with advanced technology that turned out to be fake. Seyfried’s Holmes was complex and not entirely unempathetic.

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And what timing. After a widely followed televised trial, a San Jose jury in January found Holmes guilty of four felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. Sentencing is later this fall. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison and hefty fines plus restitution.

The Dropout hails from Searchlight Television and 20th Television.

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This was a tough field — “an abundance of heavyweight names playing other heavyweight names,” as per Deadline’s Pete Hammond — including Lily James as Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson in Pam & Tommy; Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story; Julia Garner in Inventing Anna; Margaret Qualley in Maid; and Toni Collette in The Staircase.

Lynette Rice contributed to this report

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