COMING SOON

‘The Dropout’ Trailer Unveils Amanda Seyfried’s Haunting Elizabeth Holmes Voice

Hulu’s drama about the rise and disastrous fall of Theranos finds Seyfried playing the failed startup founder, who was found guilty on federal charges of defrauding investors.

Partway through The Dropout trailer, I found myself deeply disappointed. So profound was my grief that I Slacked my editor: “Amanda Seyfried is not doing The Voice.” How could anyone play Theranos founder and convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes without a full-throated embrace of her absurd faux-low drawl?

Moments later, however, there it was—and I’ve never been more thrilled to be wrong.

The Hulu drama, which premieres March 3, observes Holmes’ meteoric rise and catastrophic fall. The blood-testing startup founder, who dropped out of Stanford University to pursue her idea full time, was convicted on four out of 11 counts of fraud in federal court in January. She will be sentenced later this year.

The Dropout, adapted from the podcast of the same name from Rebecca Jarvis and ABC Audio, appears to be part of a growing trend in television: shows about scam artists that involve thick accents. Apple’s WeCrashed finds Jared Leto adopting another funny accent to play WeWork founder Adam Neumann, and Julia Garner recently broke the internet with her strange Germanic drawl in the trailer for Netflix’s Anna Delvey drama, Inventing Anna.

The Dropout trailer itself doesn’t reveal much beyond the expected—shots of Seyfried doing her best to convince skeptical colleagues and professors that, yes, she can change the shape of medicine as we know it without so much as a medical degree. Lost alum Naveen Andrews will star as Holmes’ business partner and secret lover, Sunny Balwani, and the show’s stacked list of guest stars includes Kate Burton (who also appears in Inventing Anna), William H. Macy, Laurie Metcalf, Alan Ruck, and Sam Waterston.

New Girl producer Elizabeth Meriwether will serve as showrunner, and Jarvis is listed among the show’s executive producers. Michael Showalter, who recently directed The Eyes of Tammy Faye, will also executive produce as well as direct multiple episodes.

As the limited series prepares for its debut next month, now might be a good time to stock up on cough drops—if Seyfried has to keep up that voice for any length of time, vicarious sore throats seem inevitable for us viewers at home.

Laura BradleySenior Entertainment Reporter

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