Jared Leto is opening up about his past friendship with Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes.
While speaking with Amanda Seyfried — who played Holmes in Hulu’s “The Dropout” — for Variety’s “Actors on Actors” series, Leto recalled his first impressions of Holmes, whom he presented the Glamour Woman of the Year Award to back in 2015.
The 50-year-old actor shared that he had “stayed in touch” with the former biotechnology entrepreneur following the awards show, noting that he “always” had a pleasant experience with Holmes.
“I had heard her speak before onstage. She was incredibly smart — and then I met her after that. I liked her a lot,” said Leto, who portrayed WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann in AppleTV’s “The Dropout.” “She was really sweet, really kind. [There was] no indication that things weren’t great in her life and at the company. And then I gave her an award.”
“We stayed in touch after that and talked a few times, but my experience with her was always quite nice and lovely,” he added. “I think what’s interesting about bringing a character to life — not everyone is one thing. No one is one thing.”
The Oscar winner later revealed that he is no longer in touch with Holmes. “I haven’t spoken to her in some time,” Leto said.
Meanwhile, Seyfried, 36, shared that she “of course” would have loved to have been able to meet Holmes before shooting “The Dropout,” but said she wasn’t “allowed to.”
“She was in litigation and Disney was very clear about what we could and could not put in the show,” she explained. “And I wasn’t privy to any of that, because I didn’t come on until the last minute. Kate McKinnon stepped out, and then they were looking for somebody else. So I was never going to meet her.”
“It would be, I think maybe, a mistake at this point and I think it would have been a mistake to have met her before I played her,” Seyfried added.
Like Seyfried with Holmes, Leto said he wasn’t supposed to meet Neumann prior to portraying him in “WeCrashed,” but he did it anyway.
“I was too curious. I thought that I would regret it if I didn’t meet Adam and that was more to be gained than lost,” he explained, before Seyfried asked if he keeps in contact with Neumann. “We had a top-secret meeting. Nobody knew that it was happening. … I met him, I met his wife, Rebekah, I met all of their kids and they have a lovely family. It was quite a nice experience on my end.”
Meanwhile, Leto also asked Seyfried what she would say to Holmes if she hypothetically “ran into her in New York.'”
“‘Hi. Wow. Hello …’ I don’t know,'” the Oscar nominee replied. “I would want to spend some time with her, and know that I probably shouldn’t, because I have in some way affected her legal experience. Right now, Sunny Balwani is in court, and her sentencing may or may not depend on Sunny’s sentencing. And so, it’s really messy.”
Seyfried also shared her thoughts on Holmes’ sentencing, which is set for September.
“[We] tried to figure her out from a place of compassion and worthiness,” she explained. “I know whatever she’ll be sentenced with, it’s what she deserves. And I also know that, in my gut, that there’s a space for her outside of this whole Theranos thing, outside of prison — if she goes to prison. If she goes, she’ll spend her time there and then she’ll get out and she’ll create something or invent something new that will work.”
“I don’t know if I’m the only person who feels that way,” she admitted. “I’d love to see her take responsibility in a very vocal way, which she has not. … If she can just take accountability and move on.”
As for whether Seyfried believes Holmes has seen “The Dropout,” she said, “I know Elizabeth was told not to watch it, but I cannot imagine a world where she didn’t peek.”
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