After Amanda Seyfried deliver an Emmy-award-winning performance for her portrayal of the infamous con artist Elizabeth Holmes inThe Dropout, many wondered how exactly Adam McKay’s upcoming biopic of Holmes (titledBad Blood) starring Jennifer Lawrence would measure up to it. Well, it appears one of those ingredients is no longer part of the equation.
Lawrence will no longer do her own portrayal as the Theranos founder inApple TV Plus' upcoming Holmes biopicBad Blood.It turns out the reason for Lawrence’s departure was because of how impressed she was withSeyfried’s portrayal of Holmes inThe Dropoutearlier in 2022.
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Kyle Buchanan of theNew York Timesrevealed that Jennifer Lawrence told him personally that she will no longer be involved in the Elizabeth Holmes biopicBad Bloodafter watching Seyfried’s portrayal of Holmes. Lawrence explained that she dropped out of the project because of how well she thought Seyfried played Holmes. “I thought she was terrific,” Lawrence told Buchanan. “I was like, ‘Yeah, we don’t need to redo that.’ She did it.“The Dropoutwas based on a podcast detailing Holmes' rise and fall as the CEO of Theranos, whileBad Bloodis based on a book detailing how journalist John Carreyrou exposed Theranos for the fraudulent company that it was.
Although Lawrence has left the project, there have been no reports that the film will be put on the shelf too. McKay is still attached to direct while the film looks for its own iteration of Holmes. They may not necessarily have to focus on Holmes sinceBad Bloodcomes from the perspective of the journalist who called out the company for its wrongdoings. While many former associates and employees could talk about the company’s corruption, it was John Carreyrou who brought everything to light. The film could make him the focus instead of Holmes since audiences have already seen the story from Holmes' perspective through Seyfried.
Technically,Carreyrou was featured inThe Dropoutsince he was the one who exposed Theranos' wrongdoings, but he did not come into the picture until the last couple of episodes because the show’s emphasis was on Holmes and her relationship with Sunny Balwani.Bad Bloodcould instead focus on Carreyrou and give more detail about what measures he had to take to prove that Theranos was not who the public thought it was. It was odd to know that there would be another project about Holmes not too long afterThe Dropoutsince they mostly covered everything regarding her and Theranos.
It is a shame that Lawrence will not be involved going forward because of her proven repertoire as an actress. Of course, trying to measure up to Seyfried’s performance is a higher bar than, say, when Michael Fassbender took on the role of Steve Jobs not too long after Ashton Kutcher did. No matter where the film goes, they will need someone who took the role to heart as Seyfried did. If all else fails, why not go back to her sinceSeyfried has voiced her interest in playing Holmes again?
