- Amanda Seyfried, who played Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout,” says Holmes’ 11-year prison sentence is “fair.”
- Seyfried also said she sympathizes for Holmes’ two kids.
- Holmes reported to a women’s prison in Bryan, Texas, on Tuesday to start serving her sentence.
Amanda Seyfried has weighed in on Elizabeth Holmes’ prison sentence after portraying the disgraced Theranos founder in the Hulu miniseries “The Dropout.”
Seyfried appeared on “Good Morning America” on Tuesday, the day Holmes reported to a minimum-security women’s prison in Bryan, Texas, to begin serving her 11-year sentence. Holmes was convicted on four of 11 counts of wire fraud and conspiracy last year, all related to investor losses in her infamous blood-testing startup.
Seyfried said she sympathized for Holmes’ children “as a mom.” Holmes has two kids with her partner William “Billy” Evans — a son who was born in July 2021 and a daughter born this February.
“I feel for those kids,” Seyfried said when asked about Holmes. “There’s two kids that are hanging in the balance here.”
But she added that she thought Holmes’ sentence — 11.25 years in prison with three years of supervision following her release — was “fair.”
“Life’s not fair,” she said. “But in a lot of ways it’s fair for her, in particular.”
“The Dropout” premiered last March and chronicles Theranos’ rise and fall. Seyfried won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Holmes in the miniseries. Acting alongside her in the miniseries was Naveen Andrews, who played Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, Holmes’ ex-boyfriend and Theranos’ former president and COO.
Seyfried said she watched Holmes’ deposition tapes and other clips of the founder in order to prepare for the role. She said she worried about permanently damaging her voice while mimicking Holmes’ distinctive baritone.
“I would be talking like Elizabeth and [my throat would] get a little sore,” Seyfried told the Los Angeles Times last year. “And I’d be like: this can’t happen. Like, this is freaking me out. Am I going to be able to do this for weeks?”
