Emma Stone Helped Bring Amanda Seyfried to Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes Documentary

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s documentary You Can See Everything was never intended to be a conventional Theranos story. It began by trailing Elizabeth Holmes during her final days of freedom, only to lose its central subject when she entered prison. Rather than abandon the project, the filmmakers executed an audacious mid-production pivot: they jumped forward several years, brought in Amanda Seyfried—who had already played Holmes in Hulu’s Dropout—and transformed her into an on-screen investigator and interlocutor. The bridge between the documentary and its new star was Emma Stone, whose behind-the-scenes introduction ultimately earned her a “special thanks” credit and may have saved the film from an uncertain ending.

How ‘You Can See Everything’ Changed After Elizabeth Holmes Went to Prison

Once Holmes was incarcerated, the production lost direct access to her, and no one in her circle was willing to speak with the filmmakers. Oppenheim later told Vulture that he worried openly about how the story could continue or find a satisfying ending. The solution was structural rather than journalistic: a flash-forward that abandoned observational footage in favor of performance, memory, and reconstruction.

From ‘Dropout’ to On-Screen Investigation

Seyfried had already inhabited Holmes for Hulu’s limited series Dropout, a performance that helped shape much of the public’s perception of the Theranos founder. When Fielder and Oppenheim approached her, they initially hoped to record her reaction to the material. Seyfried was a fan of Fielder’s work but admitted she feared being punked. After the directors screened the completed first half of the film for her, she came on board. From there, the reenactments evolved organically. Seyfried asked to play Holmes again, and her presence gradually transformed the documentary from a stalled investigation into something more complicated. She does not merely recreate conversations; she interrogates Fielder, offers her own perspective on Holmes’s psychology, and by the end is asking the same probing questions Fielder once directed at Holmes.

Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s Bold Documentary Pivot

Fielder and Oppenheim both have reputations for pushing past ordinary documentary boundaries, and this film tests that instinct in a new way. With Holmes behind bars, the narrative depends on Fielder’s recollection of events and Seyfried’s embodiment of the disgraced founder. The result is less a traditional true-crime document and more a meditation on performance and secondhand knowledge. The twist that brings Seyfried into the frame is also the engine driving the film’s central question: Can we ever truly know the truth?

Why Amanda Seyfried Was Initially Hesitant to Join

Seyfried’s hesitation was understandable. She knew Fielder’s style well enough to suspect a practical joke, and she had no desire to become the punchline. That changed during their first meeting, when the filmmakers showed her all the footage shot during Holmes’s final months of freedom. Seeing the material apparently convinced her that the project was sincere, and she agreed to participate.

Can We Ever Truly Know the Truth?

The documentary’s turn toward Seyfried forces viewers to consider what remains when direct access disappears. Because Holmes is unavailable, the film leans on Fielder’s memory and Seyfried’s interpretation rather than firsthand testimony. That shift does not weaken the film; it makes You Can See Everything more nuanced and intricate than it might have been had Holmes remained on camera. Seyfried effectively becomes an interviewer in her own right, reversing the dynamic and examining the investigator.

Emma Stone’s Growing Collaboration With Nathan Fielder

Emma Stone’s role in the film’s evolution was pivotal but largely behind the scenes. She was the one who connected Oppenheim and Fielder with Seyfried after Oppenheim expressed concern about how to finish the documentary. Stone’s contribution was acknowledged with a special thanks in the credits. The two are also frequent collaborators and friends. They star as a married couple in The Curse, the satirical comedy-thriller about a pair filming an HGTV show while under an apparent curse. Stone also moderated the Q&A panel for the surprise premiere of You Can See Everything at the Telluride Film Festival in September.

From ‘The Curse’ to the Magnus Carlsen Chess Scandal

Their partnership continues beyond the Theranos documentary. Following the success of The Curse, Fielder and Stone began developing Checkmate, an adaptation of a book by Ben Mezrich that focuses on the chess scandal involving Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann. The project adds another layer to a working relationship that has already spanned prestige television, an awards-season documentary premiere, and now a theatrical release.

Where to Watch ‘You Can See Everything’

You Can See Everything is now playing in theaters. The story was originally reported by Men’s Journal on October 26, 2026, in its News section.

Emma Stone’s quiet intervention illustrates how a single connection can reshape a nonfiction film. By linking Fielder and Oppenheim to Amanda Seyfried, she helped turn a documentary derailed by imprisonment into a self-reflexive examination of truth, performance, and the limits of knowing another person. You Can See Everything is now playing in theaters, with Stone’s behind-the-scenes role quietly embedded in its credits and its DNA.

Arts, Entertainment, News, People, You Can See Everything, Elizabeth Holmes Documentary, Amanda Seyfried, Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, Theranos, Hulu Dropout, The Curse, Checkmate, Magnus Carlsen, Hans Niemann, Ben Mezrich, Telluride Film Festival, Men’s Journal, Documentary Film, True Crime Documentary, Positive