Trivia / The Dropout

• All-Star Cast: In addition to Amanda Seyfried and Naveen Andrews, there is Anne Archer, William H. Macy, Laurie Metcalf, Michael Ironside, Sam Waterston, Dylan Minnette and Stephen Fry.
• The Cast Showoff: Dylan Minette who plays Tyler Shultz sings in Episode 6. Minette sings in real life, and is part of a band known as Wallows.
• Dawson Casting: Both Amanda Seyfried (b. December 3, 1985) and Naveen Andrews (b. January 17, 1969) are very close in age to the real-life Elizabeth Holmes and Sunny Balwani. However, the action starts when Holmes is supposed to be 17-18 years old. The Dawson factor is played very straight when a 35-year-old Seyfried is in scenes where Holmes's young age is brought up. Example, when she is on the phone with Balwani and wondering what is she doing at 19 with a guy his age. As for Andrews, the gap in age between his own age and his character's is not as obvious.
• Dueling Shows:
  • With Super Pumped and WeCrashed, two other biopic miniseries focusing the rise and downfall of scummy, fraudulent CEOs of Silicon Valley startups that fostered a toxic work environment and ruined the lives of many people. All three shows aired around the same time and ended within weeks of each other.
  • Also with Inventing Anna, another miniseries about a real life female con artist.
• Dyeing for Your Art: In addition to wearing prosthetics, Naveen Andrews put on 25 pounds (11.34 kg) to play Sunny Balwani.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Amanda Seyfried has a little Leslie Nielsen Syndrome in her performance as Elizabeth Holmes, going for a broader character actor performance. She is known for playing naturally likable, free-spirited and energetic and charming women, the polar opposite of the blunt, anti-social, overly serious, painfully awkward and borderline sociopathic portrayal she provides of Holmes whose only moments of charisma are borne from her intensity.
  • Kevin Sussman has made a career of playing nerdy pushovers. While still playing that, his character also has some Tom Hanks Syndrome as he shocks audiences by moving against Theranos.
• Production Posse: Michaela Watkins had previously worked with director and executive producer Michael Showalter on Search Party — playing another legal professional, no less.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Nicky Endres plays designer Ana Arriola. Per the former's IMDB profile, they are a non-binary transfeminine queer actor. The designer is a queer woman of trans and non-binary experience.
• Underage Casting: George Shultz, who was in his nineties during the events portrayed, is played by eighty-one year old Sam Waterston.
• What Could Have Been: Kate McKinnon was originally cast to play Elizabeth Holmes but dropped out likely in favor of the Joe Exotic series Joe vs Carole playing Carole Baskin.