Amanda Seyfried had already begun filming “You Can See Everything” by the time she told her agent and lawyer, the actor revealed in a new interview with Rolling Stone. The Oscar nominee sat down with directors Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim for their first joint interview discussing the documentary’s spoilers. The film has been in theaters for nearly a month and is approaching $80 million at the domestic box office.
Fielder said the idea to involve Seyfried came two years after he filmed Elizabeth Holmes and her partner, Billy Evans, at a beach house. He and Oppenheim were trying to figure out where to take the documentary next when they realized that Seyfried’s Emmy-winning performance as Holmes in Hulu’s “The Dropout” still resonated with people close to Holmes, including her parents.
Emma Stone put Fielder in touch with Seyfried. After a 30-minute Zoom call, Seyfried agreed to let the filmmakers come over with cameras. The plan was to show her the footage that would become the first half of the documentary and film their conversation about it.
Seyfried recalled wondering whether Fielder wanted to make something with her when Stone first reached out. Her sister was a big fan of his, and Seyfried knew how popular “Nathan for You” was, although she had only seen “The Curse.” When Fielder mentioned that he had 90 minutes of footage, she assumed he wanted her perspective on researching and playing Holmes. By the end of the call, she was willing to help however she could, drawn in by Fielder’s enthusiasm, the time he had invested and how quietly the project had come together.
Seyfried first appears about halfway through the documentary, watching the footage Fielder shot inside the beach house. She said she understood there was a risk in filming before consulting her team. When she eventually told her agent and lawyer what she had done, her lawyer said they would need to put an agreement in place retroactively to protect her. Fielder emphasized that the initial arrangement covered a screening and conversation. Reenactments entered the discussion later.
As the project evolved, Fielder and Oppenheim asked whether Seyfried would play Holmes again to recreate some of the early conversations they had with her off camera. Fielder said the directors wanted to discuss the scenes with Seyfried on camera without giving her scripts or talking through the material beforehand. Those conversations could themselves become part of the documentary, and Seyfried had no creative control over what was filmed.
“No approval. Whatsoever,” Seyfried said. She recalled worrying that she might hurt her career, get drawn into a conflict with Evans, say the wrong thing or make things worse for Holmes. Even with those concerns, she wanted to see where the project would take her.
After watching the beach-house footage, Seyfried knew she wanted to meet Evans. “It felt dangerous. I wanted answers,” she told Rolling Stone. The way he behaved in the footage and interacted with the filmmakers left her uneasy and curious about how much influence he had. She described herself as a “weird Billy detective,” saying the idea of meeting him felt exciting, frightening and questionable all at once.
Seyfried said her impression of Evans “only got worse” after they met. In the documentary, she and Fielder visit Evans at his home, where a dinner turns confrontational. Evans criticizes her acting, and the two argue over her remarks about Charlie Kirk. Earlier in the visit, Seyfried meets Holmes and Evans’ children and holds their dog when Holmes unexpectedly calls from prison. Seyfried said someone later asked whether it was really Holmes on the phone, a question she found surprising given that the scene was part of a documentary.
Looking back on the dinner, Seyfried said “there was no reason for [Evans] to get that aggressive.” She called “aggressive” a diplomatic choice of words and recalled being stunned by the exchange. She said she wanted to avoid provoking him, but she also felt disrespected and decided to defend her position.
Seyfried also questioned how Evans spoke about and treated Holmes, whom he said he was “building monuments of love” to. She allowed that he might respect Holmes, though his behavior struck her differently. Throughout the argument, Seyfried said she was trying to defend herself and set the record straight while keeping the conversation civil enough that Evans would let them stay.
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