Amanda Seyfried Gets an Oscar Push for Playing Elizabeth Holmes Again

By Nico Grey · Published Oct 20, 2026, 4:18 PM (BKK)

She won an Emmy for playing Elizabeth Holmes. Now she’s playing her again, in a documentary, and A24 wants an Oscar for it. Variety confirmed on Monday, October 19, that A24 will campaign Amanda Seyfried for Best Supporting Actress for “You Can See Everything,” Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary about the jailed Theranos founder. Seyfried, 40, is credited in the film as Elizabeth Holmes. If voters bite, she would be the first actor ever nominated by the Academy for a performance in a documentary, Deadline points out. Spoiler warning: the rest of this story explains her role in the film.

The announcement and the buzz

Variety broke the campaign news on X, Deadline had already floated the acting race, People covered her gala dodges, and A24 posted the film’s record numbers.

What Amanda actually does in the movie

A24 kept her out of the marketing, and she only arrives about halfway into the 174-minute film. Entertainment Weekly sets it up: once Holmes reports to prison and Fielder can barely reach her, he hires Seyfried to step back into the role she played in Hulu’s “The Dropout.” She shows up as herself first, on a couch with Fielder, watching his footage of Holmes crying through clips of “The Dropout.” Then she becomes Holmes again for scenes that were never filmed, with Christopher Abbott playing Holmes’ partner Billy Evans.

Three of those scenes carry the second half, per EW and Variety:

• The money meeting. She and Abbott recreate a private negotiation from before filming in which Evans asked to be paid for taking part in the documentary.
• The dinner. Seyfried, as herself, confronts Evans over dinner at his Texas home. EW says she presses him on holding power of attorney over Holmes and posting as her on social media, and he hits back at her for making “The Dropout.”
• The prison visit. Cameras aren’t allowed inside, so Seyfried plays Holmes in a scene scripted from Fielder’s memory of their conversation. In it, “Holmes” blames “The Dropout” for how other inmates treat her. Reading those lines as herself, Seyfried fires back, Variety reports: “it’s not lies. It’s f—ing TV.”

Our favorite beat is the smallest one. When Fielder gently reminds her she’s not actually Holmes, she asks him, per Variety: “Guess how many people believed I was her when I played her?” Then she answers herself, smiling: “A lot.”

Why she talked about emus on the red carpet

This also explains her strangest interviews of the year. At the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Saturday, October 17, reporters had to dance around the spoiler, and so did she. Asked by The Hollywood Reporter what she could talk about, she said: “I like to talk about the emus. I like to talk about Halloween. And you can engage with me if you want to talk about all things having to do with apple pie and olives and really good hard ciders,” People reports. When THR posted the clip, she commented under it: “What AM I even saying.”

She was just as cagey with Variety’s Marc Malkin. “Don’t ask me anything,” she warned him. “I got nothing to say.” Asked whether she would want to meet Holmes after her release, she said: “I don’t — life is long.” Now that the twist is public, those answers read as an actress trying not to spoil her own surprise.

Where she can win, and where she can’t

This is new territory, so every awards group has its own answer. Here is where things stand, per Variety and Deadline:

• Oscars: eligible. Academy rules for actors only rule out uncredited performances, and Seyfried is fully credited. A24 is campaigning her in supporting actress. Christopher Abbott is also eligible, but Variety’s sources say the push will center on her.
• Critics Choice Awards: eligible across the board, acting included. Variety calls it the only major stop where the performances can be recognized before the Oscar nominations. Separately, the film has five nominations at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards on November 8, but that show has no acting category.
• Golden Globes: not eligible under the current rules, which exclude documentaries. Variety’s sources say there could be a way in.
• Actor Awards (the former SAG Awards): not eligible as things stand. A committee is said to be looking at the film. Deadline notes the submission deadline is November 1.
• BAFTA: unclear. Sources told Variety the acting races may end up open to her.

What makes it wild is the role itself. She would be nominated for playing herself and the same woman who already won her an Emmy and a Golden Globe for “The Dropout.” It would be her second Oscar nomination after “Mank” (2020), Variety notes.

The numbers that made A24 go for it

This isn’t a small festival doc. Deadline says it opened to more than $15 million in about 800 theaters, the biggest debut in under 1,000 theaters in more than two decades and the biggest opening for a non-music documentary since “Fahrenheit 9/11” in 2004. As of October 19, Variety counted a 99 on Metacritic, 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 9.4 on IMDb. A24 says it is the highest-rated movie in Letterboxd history. Deadline reports an estimated 530 people turned up to the official Academy screening on Sunday, one of the best turnouts of the season.

From “The Dropout” to “The Housemaid”: how this fits her run

Seyfried’s last few years have been a streak of big swings. She played Holmes in “The Dropout” in 2022, then led “The Testament of Ann Lee” for director Mona Fastvold, and played Nina Winchester opposite Sydney Sweeney in “The Housemaid” (2025). We covered Sweeney’s return for the Housemaid sequel in our Sydney Sweeney and Scooter Braun story. Now she’s in the most talked-about documentary of the year, and nobody saw her coming.

Where to watch You Can See Everything

It’s in U.S. theaters now. A24 released it on October 16, and the studio says it is expanding to more theaters nationwide this week. Outside the U.S., Deadline reports Sony Pictures has bought the rights in a host of international markets. Plan for a long sit: it runs 2 hours and 54 minutes, and Seyfried doesn’t appear until the second half. We couldn’t find an announced streaming date yet.

FAQ

Is Amanda Seyfried in You Can See Everything?

Yes. She appears about halfway through, both as herself and credited as Elizabeth Holmes in reenactments of moments the filmmakers could not film, with Christopher Abbott as Billy Evans. A24 kept her out of the marketing.

Can an actor get an Oscar nomination for a documentary?

In principle, yes. Academy rules for actors only exclude uncredited performances, and Seyfried is credited. But Deadline found no actor has ever been nominated for a documentary performance in the Academy’s 99-year history, so she would be the first.

How many Oscar nominations does Amanda Seyfried have?

One so far: Best Supporting Actress for “Mank” (2020). She won the Emmy and the Golden Globe for playing Elizabeth Holmes in “The Dropout,” so a nomination here would be for the same character.

Where can I watch You Can See Everything?

In theaters. A24 opened it in the U.S. on October 16 and is adding more theaters this week. It runs 2 hours and 54 minutes, and Sony Pictures has bought the rights in a number of international markets.

What do you think? Should a performance in a documentary be able to win an Oscar? Tell us on X @celeb124.

Photos: Amanda Seyfried at Miu Miu Women’s Tales, 83rd Venice International Film Festival, 2026 (card and story graphic) by Colleen Sturtevant, CC BY-SA 4.0; Elizabeth Holmes at TechCrunch Disrupt 2014 (card, story graphic and in-story photo) by TechCrunch, CC BY 2.0; Amanda Seyfried at Berlinale 2026 by Elena Ternovaja, CC BY-SA 3.0; Amanda Seyfried at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, 2026 by CaseyJNewell, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons). Archive photos, not from the events described.

Sources

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