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41-534: The Dropout is an American biographical drama television miniseries that dramatizes the rise and fall of the disgraced biotechnology company Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes , played by Amanda Seyfried . It features an ensemble supporting cast, including Naveen Andrews , Elizabeth Marvel , William H. Macy , Stephen Fry , Mary Lynn Rajskub , Bill Irwin , Utkarsh Ambudkar , LisaGay Hamilton , Michael Ironside , Laurie Metcalf , Anne Archer , and Sam Waterston . Created by Elizabeth Meriwether ,

82-460: A 90% approval rating, based on 98 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads: " The Dropout succeeds more as a docudrama than a dark comedy, but Amanda Seyfried's disquieting portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes brings fresh blood to this retelling of recent history." On Metacritic , it has a score of 75 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Caroline Framke of Variety found

123-591: A Fairytale (2006), and Howard Stern in Private Parts (1997). In 2018, the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody , based on the life of Queen singer Freddie Mercury , became the highest-grossing biopic in history at the time. In 2023, it was surpassed by Oppenheimer , based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II. Kate Burton (actress) Katherine Burton (born September 10, 1957)

164-464: A Play , for her portrayal of the title role in Henrik Ibsen 's Hedda Gabler , and Best Featured Actress in a Play for her portrayals of Pinhead/Mrs. Kendal in the revival of The Elephant Man . As of May 2019, she is one of only six actors, including Amanda Plummer , Dana Ivey , Jan Maxwell , Mark Rylance , and Jeremy Pope , to be nominated for Tony awards in two different categories in

205-448: A linear fashion, starting from her preteens and all the way to her exposure as a fraud . On April 10, 2019, Deadline Hollywood reported that Hulu had given the production a series order for 6 to 10 episodes. The series would be executive produced by Kate McKinnon , the host of The Dropout , Rebecca Jarvis , and its producers Taylor Dunn and Victoria Thompson. The series would be Searchlight Television ’s inaugural production. Upon

246-730: A veteran monster hunter, and the aunt of Nick Burkhardt in the opening episodes of the NBC supernatural drama Grimm . Since 2012, she plays the recurring role of Vice President Sally Langston in the ABC hit show Scandal , for which she again received an Emmy nomination. In 2015, it was reported that Burton was cast in a leading role in the U.S. remake of the French-language film Martyrs , which opened theatrically in January 2016. In March 2017, she reprised her role as Aunt Marie Kessler in

287-580: Is 25 years younger than Ellis (born 1953), with Pompeo aged down 11 years and Burton aged up 4 years. (Though the character's exact ages were not determined until a retcon was established in season 11 ). In 2008, the New York City Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association singled her out for her compelling performances in both shows. In 2006 and 2007, Burton received Emmy nominations for her Grey's Anatomy role. Burton's character dies in

328-600: Is a Welsh actress, the daughter of actors Richard Burton and Sybil Christopher . On television, Burton received critical acclaim as Ellis Grey in the Shonda Rhimes drama series Grey's Anatomy , and as Vice President Sally Langston on Scandal . She has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Tony Awards . Burton was born in Geneva , Switzerland, the daughter of Welsh parents, producer Sybil Burton (née Williams) and actor Richard Burton . She

369-641: Is often a balance between similarity in looks and ability to portray the characteristics of the person. Anthony Hopkins felt that he should not have played Richard Nixon in Nixon because of a lack of resemblance between the two. The casting of John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror was objected to because of the American Wayne being cast as the Mongol warlord. Egyptian critics criticized

410-426: Is the mysterious and difficult mother of Dr. Meredith Grey ( Ellen Pompeo ), the titular character on ABC 's medical drama Grey's Anatomy . Burton plays Dr. Ellis Grey, the former trailblazing surgeon, and a two-time winner of the fictionalized, prestigious Harper Avery Award. Her character's battle and death of Alzheimer's is central to Meredith's story in all seasons of the series, as Meredith fears both getting

451-533: The HBO miniseries Empire Falls . Some of her recurring television roles have involved subplots concerning Alzheimer's disease . On FX network's Rescue Me , she played the role of Rose, a friend and possible romantic interest to Chief Jerry Reilly. Reilly, whose wife is in a facility suffering from Alzheimer's, hires Rose, a caregiver for her husband who was also a victim, to provide assistance and emotional support. Burton's most visible and well-known role to date

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492-452: The eleventh season , showing Ellis briefly before her Alzheimer's diagnosis. In season 14 's landmark 300th episode, Burton's Ellis is shown as a dream-sequence figure, clapping for Meredith, who has also now won a Harper Avery award. She re-appears twice as a dream sequence figure in the fifteenth season . Burton will return to the role in the eighteenth season , beginning with its season premiere. In 2011, Burton appeared as Marie Kessler,

533-454: The third season episode "Some Kind of Miracle", which aired in 2007; she returned to the role five years later, in the season 8 alternate reality episode. It depicts a version of her life where Richard did not leave her and she did not have Alzheimer's. Burton's character is central to the eleventh season , as Meredith's marital struggles begin to parallel her own mother's struggles, something she feared. She reprised her role in flashbacks for

574-594: The Broadway musical Spring Awakening in the role of the Adult Women when she replaced actress Christine Estabrook . Kristine Nielsen replaced her on March 2, 2008, for a short stint until Estabrook reassumed the role. During the summer of 2010, Burton portrayed actress Katharine Cornell in A.R. Gurney 's The Grand Manner at Lincoln Center in New York. In April 2017, she began playing Liz Essendine in

615-754: The Broadway revival of Present Laughter , the play in which she made her debut. Burton's first screen appearance was in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days , starring her father, with whom she later appeared as Alice opposite his White Knight in the 1983 Great Performances broadcast of Alice in Wonderland , and in the 1984 CBS miniseries Ellis Island . Other films include Big Trouble in Little China , The First Wives Club , Life with Mikey , and The Ice Storm . Burton has said of these roles that she usually plays "the sweet wife, or

656-794: The Moon (1999), Downey as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992) and as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer (2023), Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray (2004), Thompson and Hanks as P. L. Travers and Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), and Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer (2023). Some biopics purposely stretch

697-613: The cast in recurring capacities. The series premiered on March 3, 2022, with the first three episodes available immediately and the rest debuting on a weekly basis on Hulu. In international markets, it was released simultaneously via Star content hub on Disney+ , on Star+ in Latín America, and on Disney+ Hotstar in India and Southeast Asia. According to Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media, The Dropout

738-515: The casting of Amanda Seyfried , she also joined the miniseries as a producer while Elizabeth Meriwether , Liz Heldens , Liz Hannah , and Katherine Pope joined Dunn and Thompson as executive producers. On March 31, 2021, Michael Showalter and Jordana Mollick joined the limited series as executive producers. Showalter directed the first four episodes of the series. Kate McKinnon was originally cast to star as Elizabeth Holmes , former CEO of Theranos . On February 18, 2021, McKinnon dropped out of

779-458: The casting of Louis Gossett Jr. , an African American actor, as Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in the 1983 TV miniseries Sadat . Also, some objected to the casting of Jennifer Lopez in Selena because she is a New York City native of Puerto Rican descent while Selena was Mexican American . Because the figures portrayed are actual people, whose actions and characteristics are known to

820-478: The disease and resembling her mother as she ages. The character is also revealed to be the birth mother of Meredith's half-sister, Dr. Maggie Pierce ( Kelly McCreary ) through her love affair with Dr. Richard Webber ( James Pickens, Jr. ). Like Schwimmer's character in Monty , Burton and Pompeo (who portrays Meredith) also have a small age gap, with Pompeo being 12 years her junior. In-universe, Meredith (born 1978)

861-463: The gender norms that underlie the biopic in his article, "Taking Hollywood Back" in the 2009 issue of Cinema Journal . Roger Ebert defended The Hurricane and distortions in biographical films in general, stating "those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother. ... The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable ." Casting can be controversial for biographical films. Casting

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902-483: The genre as having died with the Hollywood studio era , and in particular, Darryl F. Zanuck . On the other hand, Bingham's 2010 study Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre shows how it perpetuates as a codified genre using many of the same tropes used in the studio era that has followed a similar trajectory as that shown by Rick Altman in his study, Film/Genre . Bingham also addresses

943-676: The kids are almost your age! When I played Schwimmer's mother, I was 37 and he was, I think, 28. . . that happens a lot in TV and film; you really do end up being close in age to your child, which is nonsensical." In 1996, Burton won a Daytime Emmy award for her performance as a mother dying of breast cancer in the ABC Afterschool Special , 'Notes for my Daughter'. More recently, she made guest appearances as recurring characters on Law & Order , The Practice , The West Wing , Judging Amy and Medium . She also appeared on

984-419: The male biopic and the female biopic as distinct genres from each other, the former generally dealing with great accomplishments, the latter generally dealing with female victimization. Ellen Cheshire's Bio-Pics: a life in pictures (2014) examines UK/US films from the 1990s and 2000s. Each chapter reviews key films linked by profession and concludes with further viewing list. Christopher Robé has also written on

1025-406: The miniseries 4 out of 5 stars, praised the performances of Seyfried and Andrews, and found it cohesive and entrancing. Joyce Slaton of Common Sense Media rated the miniseries 4 out of 5 stars, praised the performances of the actors, and stated that it illustrates Holmes went too far to make a positive impact on the world. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian rated the miniseries 3 out of 5 stars, praised

1066-459: The miniseries manages to depict Holmes and the different aspects of her personality, and found the characterization of Holmes' entourage its best feature. Reviewing the miniseries for Rolling Stone , Alan Sepinwall gave a rating of 5 out of 5 stars and described it as "a maddening, gripping, and at times startlingly funny recreation of a story that would feel too absurd to be true if we didn't already know otherwise". Beth Webb of Empire rated

1107-411: The miniseries very impressive for its genuine portrait of Elizabeth Holmes, acclaimed the performances of the actors, especially Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews, and wrote that it skillfully manages to cover Holmes' life throughout the years flawlessly with its edits. Daniel Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter acclaimed Seyfried for her performance, while praising the supporting cast, complimented how

1148-638: The performances of the actors and the story, writing: "It's clunky at points, but Amanda Seyfried excels as one-time billionaire grifter Elizabeth Holmes – and the story is simply too jaw-dropping to pass up." Biographical film Biopic scholars include George F. Custen of the College of Staten Island and Dennis P. Bingham of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis . Custen, in Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History (1992), regards

1189-960: The project. Though her departure did not come with an explanation, production moved forward without McKinnon. On March 29, 2021, Amanda Seyfried was cast to replace McKinnon. A day later, Naveen Andrews joined the main cast. On June 10, 2021, William H. Macy , Laurie Metcalf , Elizabeth Marvel , Utkarsh Ambudkar , Kate Burton , Stephen Fry , Michel Gill , Michael Ironside , Bill Irwin , and Josh Pais were cast in recurring roles. On August 3, 2021, Dylan Minnette , Alan Ruck , Bashir Salahuddin , Mary Lynn Rajskub , Hart Bochner , James Hiroyuki Liao , Nicky Endres, Camryn Mi-Young Kim, and Andrew Leeds were cast in recurring roles. On August 5, 2021, Sam Waterston , Kurtwood Smith and Anne Archer were cast in recurring roles. On September 14, 2021, LisaGay Hamilton , Michaela Watkins , Ebon Moss-Bachrach , Kevin Sussman , Sam Straley, and Shaun Brown joined

1230-819: The public (or at least historically documented), biopic roles are considered some of the most demanding of actors and actresses. Warren Beatty , Faye Dunaway , Ben Kingsley , Johnny Depp , Jim Carrey , Jamie Foxx , Robert Downey Jr. , Brad Pitt , Emma Thompson , Tom Hanks , Eddie Redmayne , and Cillian Murphy all gained new-found respect as dramatic actors after starring in biopics: Beatty and Dunaway as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi (1982), Depp as Ed Wood in Ed Wood (1994), Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man on

1271-529: The same year. In 2006, Burton starred in the Off-Broadway production of The Water's Edge opposite Tony Goldwyn . That year, she again received a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her role in W. Somerset Maugham 's The Constant Wife . In 2007, she played Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard at Boston's Huntington Theatre. On December 21, 2007, she joined the cast of

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1312-594: The series earned six nominations, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series , with Seyfried winning for Outstanding Lead Actress . It was also nominated for Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film and Seyfried won Best Actress at the 80th Golden Globe Awards . The Dropout , based on the ABC Audio podcast of the same name — is a series about the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her company, Theranos . The show touches on experiences that likely motivated Holmes's deceptions and lies in

1353-539: The series finale of Grimm . Burton has narrated numerous audiobooks , including works by: Patricia Cornwell , Lisa Scottoline , Iris Johansen , and Dean Koontz . In 1985, Burton married Michael Ritchie , Artistic Director of the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and one of the producers of the Broadway musicals The Drowsy Chaperone and Curtains . They met in 1982, while Ritchie

1394-428: The series is based on the podcast of the same name hosted by Rebecca Jarvis and produced by ABC News . The Dropout is the first television production to be produced by Searchlight Television . It premiered on the streaming service Hulu on March 3, 2022, and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the writing and the performances of the cast, particularly Seyfried. At the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards ,

1435-534: The sweet dead wife." Burton has been perhaps most prolific in her work on television. She made many television appearances in the late 1980s and 1990s on such episodic shows as Spenser: For Hire , All My Children , and Brooklyn Bridge . About playing the mother, in her late thirties, of David Schwimmer 's character in the short-lived 1994 FOX sitcom, Monty , she said, "you don't really start playing moms in Hollywood until you're in your 40s, and usually

1476-474: The truth. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was based on game show host Chuck Barris ' widely debunked yet popular memoir of the same name, in which he claimed to be a CIA agent. Kafka incorporated both the life of author Franz Kafka and the surreal aspects of his fiction. The Errol Flynn film They Died with Their Boots On tells the story of Custer but is highly romanticized. The Oliver Stone film The Doors , mainly about Jim Morrison ,

1517-1103: Was highly praised for the similarities between Jim Morrison and actor Val Kilmer , look-wise and singing-wise, but fans and band members did not like the way Val Kilmer portrayed Jim Morrison, and a few of the scenes were even completely made up. In rare cases, sometimes called auto biopics , the subject of the film plays themself. Examples include Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Muhammad Ali in The Greatest (1977), Audie Murphy in To Hell and Back (1955), Patty Duke in Call Me Anna (1990), Bob Mathias in The Bob Mathias Story (1954), Arlo Guthrie in Alice's Restaurant (1969), Fantasia in Life Is Not

1558-832: Was in a 1982 production of the Noël Coward play Present Laughter directed by George C. Scott . The following year, she appeared in the Broadway musical Doonesbury , playing J.J. Burton also appeared as Alice in Eva Le Gallienne 's Alice in Wonderland on Broadway, produced by The Mirror Theater Ltd 's Sabra Jones. Several key roles followed, including roles in Wendy Wasserstein 's An American Daughter and Martin McDonagh 's The Beauty Queen of Leenane . In 2002, she received Tony Award nominations in separate performance categories: Best Actress in

1599-416: Was the 3rd most watched program across all platforms, during the week of March 24, 2022, and was the most watched tv show during the week of March 31, 2022. According to the streaming aggregator JustWatch , The Dropout was the 9th most streamed television series across all platforms in the U.S., during the week ending April 3, 2022. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , the limited series holds

1640-412: Was the 9th most in-demand new show, during the week of March 12, 2022 to March 18, 2022. According to data from Samba TV , 499,000 US households watched The Dropout in its first 4 days of streaming. According to Nielsen Holdings , The Dropout spent one week in the top ten streaming programs, during the week of March 7, 2022 to March 13, 2022. According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, The Dropout

1681-542: Was thus the stepdaughter of Elizabeth Taylor and of Sybil's second husband Jordan Christopher , both actors. Burton earned a bachelor's degree in Russian Studies and European History from Brown University in 1979, where she was on the board of Production Workshop , one of the university's student theater groups, and a master's degree from Yale School of Drama in 1982. Brown awarded Burton an honorary doctorate in 2007. Burton's first notable role on Broadway

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