The gripping tale of Elizabeth Holmes and her failed blood testing startup Theranos captivated the nation — and it's now been turned into a new TV series on Hulu (DIS).
"The Dropout," based on the podcast of the same name, follows the meteoric rise and precipitous fall of the disgraced Silicon Valley founder. Amanda Seyfried takes on the complicated role of Holmes, who is currently awaiting sentencing and is out on bond.
In January a federal jury in San Jose found Holmes guilty on four of 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.
"People's lives were destroyed. The ripple effect of this scam is really immeasurable," actor Sam Waterston, who plays the late Secretary of State George Shultz, told Yahoo Finance.
Holmes was 19 when she dropped out of Stanford to launch Theranos, which aimed to revolutionize blood diagnostics technology. The startup, which boasted luminaries like Henry Kissinger and Shultz as board members, imploded in 2018 after regulators halted some of its operations, and after a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed serious flaws in the technology.
William H. Macy, who plays Richard Fuisz, a Holmes antagonist, in the series, noted that the story is "so primal."
"I think she wanted to do a good thing at the beginning and, when the technology didn't support it, she went to the dark side. But everybody fell for this woman...she just played us all like a fiddle," the actor continued.
Alan Ruck — who takes on the role of Jay Rosen, a former Walgreens executive and strong supporter of Theranos at the time — agreed that the psyche of Holmes is more nuanced and muddled than the scandal initially lets on.
"I think [Holmes] is actually quite damaged. She thought if she believed in something hard enough it had to come true, and was willing to disregard reality," added Ruck, who also stars in "Succession," the hit HBO series.
"She just convinced a lot of people to go on that ride with her."
One of the most captivating elements of Holmes was her image, which included a Steve Jobs-esque turtleneck and a carefully crafted baritone voice.
"It's the most fascinating thing about the whole story — that she would create this persona for herself, and I'm here to tell you, it ain't easy to keep that ball in the air," Macy said, referencing Seyfried's impressive voice change.
"But [Seyfried] never dropped it. This was something that she took on and it was flawless," he praised.
Rebecca Jarvis, executive producer and host of the ABC News podcast "The Dropout," added that Seyfried "spent hours and hours devouring the deposition tapes" to mimic Holmes as seamlessly as possible.
"What really blew me away was that there's the voice, but there's also the mannerisms and the effect of Elizabeth Holmes. The very first time I saw Amanda in role...I walked up and I saw her from behind. Her posture, every piece of her was exuding Elizabeth Holmes before she even opened her mouth," Jarvis continued.
The first three episodes of "The Dropout" are available now on Hulu.
Alexandra is a Producer & Entertainment Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193
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