For years now the world has been unable to look away from the story of Elizabeth Holmes, a Silicon Valley fraudster who took masses of money from investors to fund faulty medical products.
And now, the first adaptation of the gripping true-crime story has reached the small screen in The Dropout, a Hulu series starring Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews.
While there’s talk that Jennifer Lawrence might also be starring in a film about Holmes, we couldn’t be more stoked to see Seyfried take on the complex, gritty role of the disgraced girlboss.
Here’s everything you need to know about the miniseries.
Who is Elizabeth Holmes?
Elizabeth Holmes is the founder of the now-defunct tech company Theranos, a healthcare business that claimed to revolutionise blood testing by allowing multiple tests to be run off a simple pin-prick to the skin.
Her rise from a Stanford University dropout to the CEO and founder of Theranos has been retold by a critically acclaimed podcast, also called The Dropout, which then went on to chronicle her fall as she was indicted on charges of fraud, with her trial coming to an end in January 2022.
Once indicted, Holmes alleged she was unaware that her technology was inaccurate, even though it had caused issues for a number of patients.
In January, she was found guilty on three counts of fraud, and one count of conspiring to defraud private investors within the business. While she could receive a sentence of up to 20 years, experts are theorising that it will be a lot less.
The show itself follows Holmes’ life from 2003, when she first founded Theranos, to 2018, when she and her business partner and ex-boyfriend Ramesh ‘Sunny’ Balwani, were indicted by a grand jury, leading to charges being laid.
Who stars in The Dropout?
The Hulu series (available in Australia on Disney+ ), stars Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes. While Kate McKinnon was the first choice to play Holmes in the series, her decision to withdraw from the project led producers to select Amanda instead.
Early looks at the series showed the Mamma Mia! actress looking bold in Holmes’ signature turtleneck, red lipstick and sharp black eyeliner, and a quick glimpse at the trailer sees her nailing the artificial deep cadence of the entrepreneur, which she allegedly started using to make herself seem more serious and less girlish.
Meanwhile, Sunny will be played by British actor Naveen Andrews, who is best known for his roles in Diana and Lost.
Where can I watch The Dropout?
While The Dropout was a project created by US company Hulu, it’s been released locally on Disney Plus.
Currently, there are six episodes released, with the final two to be released on March 31 and April 7, 2022.
Stream The Dropout now on Disney Plus, live and on demand with a month-to-month or annual subscription. SIGN UP NOW.
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