--- title: Amanda Seyfried on Becoming Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout description: Elizabeth Meriwether, the creator of 'The Dropout,' and star Amanda Seyfriend talked about how they humanized Elizabeth Holmes in the show. canonical: https://time.com/6162418/elizabeth-meriwether-amanda-seyfried-the-dropout-interview/ author: Shannon Carlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-03-30T14:42:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T14:04:13.526Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: How Amanda Seyfried Learned to Dance Like Elizabeth Holmes In Hulu’s 'The Dropout' og:description: Elizabeth Meriwether, the creator of 'The Dropout,' and star Amanda Seyfriend talked about how they humanized Elizabeth Holmes in the show. og:url: https://time.com/6162418/elizabeth-meriwether-amanda-seyfried-the-dropout-interview/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ecfe99f6a9b0065/698a230edb298794962678be/dropout_105_bd_01736rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: The-Dropout-Amanda-Seyfried og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Amanda Seyfried Learned to Dance Like Elizabeth Holmes In Hulu’s 'The Dropout' twitter:description: Elizabeth Meriwether, the creator of 'The Dropout,' and star Amanda Seyfriend talked about how they humanized Elizabeth Holmes in the show. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ecfe99f6a9b0065/698a230edb298794962678be/dropout_105_bd_01736rt.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Amanda Seyfried Learned to Dance Like Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu’s _The Dropout_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Shannon Carlin](https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Carlin is a contributor for TIME. Mar 30, 2022 2:42 PM UTC  Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in The DropoutBeth Dubber—Hulu by [Shannon Carlin](https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Carlin is a contributor for TIME. Mar 30, 2022 2:42 PM UTC On [Hulu’s _The Dropout_](https://time.com/6153051/dropout-review-hulu/)_,_ [Elizabeth Holmes](https://time.com/6153335/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-true-story/), played by [Amanda Seyfried](https://time.com/6111784/a-mouthful-of-air-review/), dances like no one is watching. It is creator Elizabeth Meriwether’s nod to one of the most fascinating tidbits she learned while researching the former Theranos CEO, who managed to fooled Silicon Valley into thinking her biotech startup would revolutionize blood testing. A former Theranos employee told [the ABC News podcast](https://time.com/6154443/elizabeth-holmes-the-dropout-podcast-books-movies/) from which _The Dropout_ is adapted that she saw Holmes in her car before work, dancing to a hip-hop song. “I just sort of held on to that image,” Meriwether said in an interview over Zoom. “Her just rocking out by herself.” Much has been written about [Holmes’ questionable leadership](https://time.com/6092115/elizabeth-holmes-trial/) during her tenure as CEO of the [now-defunct Theranos](https://time.com/6132551/corporate-board-diversity/). (In January 2022, [Holmes was found guilty](https://time.com/6132954/elizabeth-holmes-prison-sentence/) on multiple counts of defrauding investors and wire fraud.) But there isn’t much intel on who the Stanford dropout-turned-disgraced founder of a multi-billion dollar startup was outside the office. Meriwether saw an opportunity to humanize Holmes with _The Dropout_. “It felt like there was room for us to try and create a version of Elizabeth that people hadn’t seen or thought about,” she said. It was that silly anecdote about Holmes dancing alone in her car that helped Meriwether envision an Elizabeth who “has trouble processing feelings in a normal way, so she physicalizes her emotions,” she said. “It’s why our Elizabeth processes her feelings not by screaming and crying, but through dance.” Critics of the eight-episode docudrama may write off Elizabeth’s cringeworthy dance moves as a writer’s room invention, a way to turn Holmes into a quirky girl boss. “But it’s not just a young woman dancing around to be cute,” Meriwether explained. “It’s actually a very cathartic emotional experience for her.” Improvising Elizabeth’s awkward choreography was one of the most challenging acting exercises of Seyfried’s career. “It was the most I’ve ever moved in my life,” she said. “And it was not the way I would move, it’s the way Elizabeth would move.” After filming the scene in which Elizabeth dances around the Theranos office to [Missy Elliott’s “We Run This,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1FnOIgHlvU) she was in pain for two days. “It’s just fits and starts. The rhythm of it is all wrong, but it’s so cathartic,” she said of Elizabeth’s robotic dance style, which she based on footage of [Holmes awkwardly busting a move](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrT0jKOhnD4). To understand _The Dropout,_ “you have to understand the importance of those moments for Elizabeth in which she’s feeling her feelings in this very beautiful, hilarious, heartbreaking kind of way,” she said. “Even if she doesn’t understand it herself.” For Seyfried, becoming Elizabeth was a full-body experience. She mastered Holmes’ voice—a disconcertingly deep baritone that the Theranos founder reportedly created to appear more authoritative in the boardroom—by scrunching her face in ways she can’t even fully explain. “Someone recently asked me if I was wearing a chin prosthetic,” she said, which she considered “the best compliment” she could get as an actor. “They thought my face looked different enough that it couldn’t just be me.” Yet it was a pair of shoes that ultimately helped Seyfried become Holmes’ facsimile. “The shiny patent leather pointy flats,” she said, which matched a pair Holmes would often wear around the office. Putting them on completely transformed how Seyfried moved her body. “I tucked my hips in and started walking with my hands behind my back, the way Elizabeth does,” she said. “I remember Naveen \[Andrews, who plays Elizabeth’s boyfriend [Sunny Balwani](https://time.com/6093941/elizabeth-holmes-abuse-trial/)\] was just like, ‘Whoa.’” It’s hard to deny just how much Seyfried resembles Holmes when she puts on the Theranos founder’s signature black turtleneck, pulls her hair back in a messy bun, and swipes on a bit of red lipstick, but her performance is more than clever mimicry. “When you watch Amanda onscreen, you don’t feel like you’re watching this perfect imitation, you’re watching this full person,” Meriwether said. “Amanda’s performance is just an amazing blend of her bringing herself—her emotions, spirit, intelligence—to the character.” Seyfried has never been the type of actor who can completely disappear into a role. “Anyone who knows me is going to catch a glimpse of me onscreen in _The Dropout_,” she admits. But Meriwether’s writing allowed her to find humor and pathos in a character who apologizes to her boyfriend, who is nearly 20 years her senior, by performing an off-putting little dance to [Lil Wayne’s “How To Love,”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th9jcQ%5FPq4s) rather than saying she’s sorry. “Elizabeth is often funny and heartbreaking at the same time, which is really confusing for the audience,” Seyfried said. “It’s why I think people keep tuning in—their curiosity gets the best of them. They want to understand why Elizabeth is the way she is.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6162418/elizabeth-meriwether-amanda-seyfried-the-dropout-interview/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6162418/elizabeth-meriwether-amanda-seyfried-the-dropout-interview/"},"headline":"How Amanda Seyfried Learned to Dance Like Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu’s The Dropout","datePublished":"2022-03-30T14:42:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T14:04:13.526Z","description":"Elizabeth Meriwether, the creator of 'The Dropout,' and star Amanda Seyfriend talked about how they humanized Elizabeth Holmes in the show.","url":"https://time.com/6162418/elizabeth-meriwether-amanda-seyfried-the-dropout-interview/","keywords":["streaming","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ecfe99f6a9b0065/698a230edb298794962678be/dropout_105_bd_01736rt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1ecfe99f6a9b0065/698a230edb298794962678be/dropout_105_bd_01736rt.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The-Dropout-Amanda-Seyfried","caption":"Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in 'The Dropout'","creditText":"Beth Dubber—Hulu","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/streaming/","name":"streaming"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6162418/elizabeth-meriwether-amanda-seyfried-the-dropout-interview/","name":"How Amanda Seyfried Learned to Dance Like Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu’s The Dropout"}}]}] ```