The critically acclaimed Hulu series The Dropout wraps up its season on Hulu today. Based on the ABC Audio podcast of the same name, the series stars Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of blood testing company Theranos, who is awaiting sentencing on fraud charges.
William H. Macy plays Dr. Richard Fuisz in the series, one of the few who seemed impervious to Holmes’ charms. In fact, he doesn’t like her at all, for a simple reason.
“She was this little kid that grew up next door to Richard,” he tells ABC Audio. “And when she decided to invent a medical device, which is what he did for a living and it made a fortune doing it, she didn’t come to him and ask for his advice for help, and he was furious about that.”
Despite her conviction, Macy believes Holmes started out with a “brilliant idea” before going to “the dark side.”
“She hated that people had to give blood in the hospital all the time, and they do stick you like a stuck pig in the hospital. And she wanted to do something to alleviate suffering in the world,” he explains. “And had this thing worked, you could have gotten, there could have been one in every drugstore. So everybody would know a whole lot about his or her medical history and medical future.”
“But when she couldn’t deliver and when her engineers couldn’t find the technology to make this box work…she started covering her tracks,” he continues. “Once you become, once you’re on the cover of Time magazine, it’s really tough to say, well, I was wrong, I’m not going to invent this thing.”
The Dropout also stars Utkarsh Ambudkar, Kate Burton, Laurie Metcalf, Alan Ruck and Sam Waterston.
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