Emma Stone made one of the most talked-about turns in “You Can See Everything” possible, co-director Lance Oppenheim told Vulture, by introducing the filmmakers to Amanda Seyfried. The detail explains why the two-time Oscar winner appears in the documentary’s special thanks credit. Viewers assumed the acknowledgment reflected her friendship with co-director Nathan Fielder, who worked with Stone on the Showtime series “The Curse.” Oppenheim confirmed the friendship mattered but said her role was concrete: she reached out to Seyfried directly.
The filmmakers needed the help. They were struggling to persuade anyone from Elizabeth Holmes’s circle to appear on camera. Seyfried, who won an Emmy for playing Holmes in Hulu’s “The Dropout,” joined a video call with them. She admired Fielder’s work and worried at first that she was the target of a prank.
Her participation reshapes the film’s second half. In a scene just past the midpoint, Fielder visits Seyfried’s home and shows her footage from his month living with Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, including clips of Holmes watching “The Dropout.” Oppenheim said he initially hoped only to capture Seyfried’s reaction. The plan changed when she admitted she wanted to play Holmes again.
After Holmes reports to federal prison in Texas, the film turns toward Fielder’s HBO series “The Rehearsal,” with Seyfried performing reenactments of the woman she once portrayed. Oppenheim described the effect as a haunting. “As soon as Elizabeth leaves, the movie is sort of haunted by her absence,” he said.
The reveal arrives as the film dominates conversation. A24 released it Oct. 16, and it opened to an estimated $15 million on fewer than 900 screens, the biggest documentary debut in over two decades outside concert films. The studio is now submitting Seyfried for best supporting actress, a rare category for a nonfiction title.
Neither Stone nor Seyfried has commented publicly on Oppenheim’s account, and Vulture’s interview offers no detail on what Stone said when she contacted her fellow actress. The film’s expansion to nationwide release this weekend will bring the sequence before far larger audiences, many of whom will now know who opened the door for it.
