Nathan Fielder revealed in a new interview with Wired magazine that Elizabeth Holmes called him from prison right before the theatrical release of his new documentary, “You Can See Everything.” The call marked the first time the director and his documentary subject had spoken in half a year. Ex-Theranos CEO Holmes is currently in federal prison after being convicted for fraud.
“She had not called me in over six months. I had not heard from her in any way… she asked how I was doing,” Fielder said about their conversation. “I asked her if she had seen any stuff about the film coming out and how she felt about it. She told me she had seen some stuff, but most things she just isn’t seeing, so she’s heard things, but she hasn’t really read anything. And then, at the end, she said to me – ‘I trust you.’ I said, ‘OK, thanks.’”
Fielder continued, “We talked about some other stuff. She talked about her kids, and then some updates that are not really my place to share. But then after that, she said again, at the end of the call— ‘I trust you.’ And I don’t know what she meant by that.”
“You Can See Everything,” directed by Fielder and “Primetime” helmer Lance Oppenheim, follows Holmes and her partner Billy Evans in their final weeks before Homes’ 11-year prison sentence begins. The filmmakers moved in with the couple 34 days before Holmes went to prison.
Fielder told Wired that he got involved with the project after hearing that Holmes and Evans had tried and failed to pitch a documentary about them to A24, explaining: “Months later, I heard that that had happened. So I called A24 and said, ‘Well, could I meet her?’ That was the start of it all.”
But why would Holmes allow Fielder to come into her home? That’s a question that still has Fielder puzzled considering his previous work, be it “Nathan for You” or “The Rehearsal,” should’ve made it clear to Holmes that bringing Fielder on board would not produce anything straightforward or conventional.
“This is part of the mystery that, like, doesn’t make sense to me,” Fielder said. “I asked her that on, I think, one of the first days we shot. I still don’t fully understand it. That really messed with my head. Also, I got the sense very early that she hadn’t seen a lot, but she had seen some of what I did, and she had talked to people who had seen what I did. Billy had seen more. I think she found the clip that she said she saw funny. But you know, her relationship to that … to what’s funny? I don’t even know. She said her favorite movie is ‘Elf,’ the Will Ferrell movie.”
Evans appeared on the “All-In” podcast the day before “You Can See Everything” opened in theaters and explained the couple’s rationale behind letting Fielder and Oppenheim into their home. Mainly, they wanted people to get to know Holmes up close and personal so they could decide for themselves if she is a bad person or not.
“It was to have people see who she is,” Evans said. “I have gone through this consistent experience with the people who love me most, from my grandmother to my best friends. They’d hear I knew [Elizabeth Holmes] or I was falling for this person and now we’re going to have a kid… in the beginning, every single one of these people thought I was crazy. ‘Do you know who she is?’ I would tell them, ‘I understand why you feel that way but just meet her.’ And they would meet her and spend time with her and see her in a totally natural environment, like going on a hike or helping a friend. Every opinion of her would radically shift. That was the intention of the film. To help scale that up and allow other people to sit with her and make up their own minds.”
The decision is backfiring for Holmes, however, since “You Can See Everything” is only amplifying the backlash against her. Even before the movie screened for press, A24 dropped a chilling teaser trailer that had many viewers disturbed by Holmes’ demeanor and claims that she did not do anything wrong at Theronos. The movie has since turned into a box office hit by grossing $15 million in its domestic debut, which is the biggest launch for a documentary in decades.
“You Can See Everything” is now playing in theaters nationwide. Head over to Wired’s website to read Fielder’s interview in its entirety.