Why ‘The Dropout’ EPs Avoided Doing an ‘Exact Imitation’ of Elizabeth Holmes

You may think you know the story of disgraced Theranos CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, but Hulu’s The Dropout is offering a fresh spin on the fascinating tale courtesy of showrunner Liz Meriwether (New Girl), and director Michael Showalter (Search Party).

Both executive producers on the eight-episode limited series, Meriwether and Showalter team up with Rebecca Jarvis who helmed the podcast on which the show is based to tell a story filled with money, tragedy, romance, and deception. “I went into it wanting to do every element of it justice as best as I could,” notes Meriwether.

Experienced in the comedy realm, Meriwether helps strike a balance between serious drama and scintillating satire that puts Amanda Seyfried at the center of it all as Elizabeth Holmes. “It felt like if I chose to make it just comedic, I think that would really do a disservice to the seriousness of what happened and the people that were affected,” Meriwether says.

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“And then similarly, I think if it were just super dark and dramatic the whole time, [it wouldn’t be] the best representation of this absurd world that she was in.” And absurd it can seem at times as Stanford dropout Elizabeth convinces investors to support her idea for a medical device that would allow at-home blood testing with no more than a single drop.

Hungry for success, she climbs up the metaphorical mountain without looking back, or even ahead as an avalanche forms up above. “I decided to start in a lighter place and then really let it get darker as it kept going,” Meriwether shares of the season’s tone. “And I feel like the reason that worked was almost entirely Amanda [Seyfried].”

The actress whose credits range from Mean Girls to Mamma Mia!, transforms into the figure so many have come to know. But it’s the full picture The Dropout gives of Elizabeth Holmes that shows off Seyfried’s knack for range in a performance, something that Showalter was excited to help bring to the screen.

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“A lot of the [show] is seen through this slightly satirical lens, but then also trying to ground [the story] as well,” Showalter shares. “So, there’s an authenticity there. There’s an earnestness there that I think makes you root for the character and sucks you in.” The Dropout presents the story without ever truly telling you how to feel about Holmes, forcing viewers to come to their own conclusions.

“I was excited by that ambiguity,” he says. “I was excited by the idea of being pulled in multiple directions and not wanting to tell a story where you just are wagging your finger at the character.” Meanwhile, the next most important feat to tackle was Holmes’ deep-set voice, something that hardly sounds natural.

But according to Meriwether, it wasn’t too much of a challenge for Seyfried. “She showed up with that voice,” Meriwether remarks. “She had been working on it on her own. And then when we got to the first rehearsal, she opened her mouth and it was just like, ‘Oh, there it is. We have it. That’s the show.'”

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“An important thing that Amanda and I talked about was that I did not want it to be an exact imitation,” clarifies Meriwether. “I wanted it to be hers.” The results were more than thrilling as Meriwether marvels, “she’s a magician… and I also feel like [Amanda] understood what the voice meant to the character of Elizabeth.”

Another defining aspect of the series is Elizabeth’s relationship with Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews), a businessman nearly twenty years her senior. Despite the potential pitfalls they face, Elizabeth and Sunny are truly a unit in this story. “I absolutely think there’s something real there,” Showalter says of their bond. “I think Sunny is someone that comes into Elizabeth’s life who speaks Elizabeth’s language, who sees the world quite similar to her.”

Showalter further adds, “and I think that’s a non-age-related thing. They’re both extremely driven and ambitious, and there’s a ruthlessness to both of them.” That ruthlessness comes out in small bursts that grow bigger as the season carries on, along with the pressures Elizabeth faces in her position as one of the most successful businesswomen ever, even if it wasn’t entirely honest.

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“I think it’s both in the show,” Meriwether says of Elizabeth’s motivation being split between ambition and the fear of letting others in her field down. “She was commercializing this idea of her as a groundbreaking female CEO.”

Meriwether wants to make it clear though that while gender is part of the conversation in this series, “I don’t think it’s the whole conversation, but I think it’s an important part of the show. And I hope it tells a complex story and does not provide easy answers.”

Tune in to find answers about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos for yourself when The Dropout drops on Hulu.

The Dropout, Series Premiere, Thursday, March 3, Hulu