Among the most tension-filled moments of A24’s bombshell documentary “You Can See Everything,” about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, is the contentious dinner exchange between Amanda Seyfried and Holmes’ partner, Billy Evans.
Nearly a month after the movie’s premiere, Seyfried is finally opening up about it.
The actor joined co-directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim for a conversation published by Rolling Stone magazine Nov. 11, in which the trio discussed her surprise appearance in the documentary.
In it, Seyfried — who had previously portrayed Holmes in Hulu series “The Dropout” and reprised the role for several scenes in the documentary — had the opportunity to chat with Evans in his home for a meal that quickly devolved into an near-explosive argument.
“There was no reason for him to get that aggressive. (Pauses.) That’s the word I’m going to use, as it’s more diplomatic,” she said in the Rolling Stone interview, her first extensive comments about the film. “If my jaw wasn’t obviously on the floor, you could tell, like, it had come unhinged.”
Evans did not immediately respond to TODAY.com’s request for comment.
The film, released Oct. 16, documents the family life of Holmes and Evans before and during the tech founder’s prison sentence. Holmes, who reported to the Bryan, Texas federal prison camp in May 2023, had been convicted of fraud. It was only after the film’s release that Seyfried’s involvement was revealed.
In the film, Seyfried is featured in several scenes, drawing on her past experiences, studying the once-promising tech leader’s mannerisms and movements to help Fielder analyze Holmes’ behavior in footage. Because Holmes is behind bars for much of the making of the film, Seyfried ends up stepping into the Theranos founder’s shoes for several reenactments.
Things hit a fever pitch when Seyfried and Fielder visit Evans’ Texas house while Holmes is in prison. It’s during this visit that he reveals he has been impersonating Holmes on her social media accounts. Seyfried, who immediately expresses her opposition to what she perceives as Evans’ controlling behavior, gets into a heated argument with him over dinner.
In their conversation in Rolling Stone, Seyfried told the filmmakers that she went into the conversation with Evans, “honestly trying to connect.” She also mentioned that she was aware his kids, whom he shares with Holmes, were in the house and that she wanted to be open-minded.
“We were all sitting there eating really good Chinese food, and, obviously, there were questions we wanted to ask. But for me, since I’m not an interviewer or an investigator, I’m not so good at asking questions and getting the timing right. And Nathan, you had a rapport with him. I was still creating this rapport.”
Seyfried told Fielder and Oppenheim that her mindset shifted, however, as the meal went on.
“I don’t want to provoke him, but at this point, it’s kind of like, the gloves are off. Because this guy has disrespected me in such a way that I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think so, buddy,’” she said.
“I was in the frame of mind where I’m like, ‘OK, this guy is disrespectful, and I’m here in his home, I’m gonna argue this because I actually have a pretty solid stance on things. I don’t like the way he’s using this human being, his wife — the person he says he’s ‘building monuments of love’ to — as a tool. Maybe he does respect her, but he’s behaving like he does not respect her.’”
The actor added that she was attempting to be “protective” of herself while also “maintaining some kind of rapport with him, so I can stay and he doesn’t kick us out, you know?”
Seyfried revealed in the same interview that she had wanted to meet Evans after seeing the documentary footage of him and getting “such strong negative feelings from him.”
“I felt like I needed to meet this guy,” she said. “It was exciting to me, and it was scary, and it was questionable.”
The chat with Evans did little to change her opinion of him. In fact, Seyfried told the outlet, it “only got worse.”
Seyfried also spoke to the filmmakers about the unplanned call that Evans got from Holmes herself while they were at his house. It was during that call that she and Fielder had the opportunity to speak to Holmes, who was in prison. As Seyfried tells it, the moment was shocking.
“We didn’t know she was gonna call right then. And I am sitting there with her children and cuddling with her dog! While she’s in prison!” Seyfried said. “And then she calls, and … someone asked me if that was real, if that was really her on the phone. And I’m like, ‘It’s a documentary. Who else would it be?’”
The actor was mum about the entire project, even after its release. When asked about her thoughts on the Holmes-centered documentary in October, Seyfried brushed off the question.
“It’s interesting, yeah, it’s interesting,” she told the Hollywood Reporter.
