Amanda Seyfried Eligible for Critics Choice But Not Golden Globes

Can Amanda Seyfried receive awards recognition for her acclaimed portrayal of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s blockbuster documentary You Can See Everything? No performance featured in a doc has ever been nominated by any major awards group. Many weren’t even sure it was possible. Now, the major awards groups have made their determinations, and The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report their (split) decisions.

Seyfried has been deemed eligible for a best supporting actress nom by the Critics Choice Awards — but ineligible at the Golden Globe, BAFTA and Actor awards. SAG-AFTRA, which is behind the Actor Awards, encouraged A24 to file a formal appeal to try to qualify Seyfried, but insiders say no appeal will be forthcoming. They are focused on an Oscar nom.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ submission deadline is today, after which the executive committees of its various branches will begin to review submissions. Official determinations will go out in early December. But in the meantime, THR has learned that A24 has been given assurances by representatives of its Actors Branch Executive Committee that there is no reason to believe that she won’t be okayed.

Per the Academy’s rules governing the best documentary feature Oscar, “Films submitted in this category may also qualify for awards in other categories if they meet the specified requirements.” And per the organization’s rules for acting awards, “The Actors Branch Executive Committee shall have the right and responsibility to resolve all questions of eligibility.” In other words, it’s up to the Actors Branch Executive Committee, which has previously deemed eligible for acting noms people from docs who received on-screen credits, as Seyfried did — and they have no incentive to block their constituents from having the option of voting to nominate someone.

In her first one-on-one interview about the film, Seyfried — who landed an Oscar nom for 2020’s Mank and came close to another for 2025’s The Testament of Ann Lee — tells THR that she’s excited to hit the campaign trail and promote not only her performance but the film itself, which could land another nom in a category that has never previously recognized a doc: best picture. “Now that they’re going to let me loose and show up, I’m down!” Seyfried says.

You Can See Everything blends traditional doc techniques with reenactments featuring Seyfried. The film is at 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and recently became only the fourth documentary to ever top the domestic box office (grossing more than $80 million worldwide while playing in nearly 2,500 theaters). Last Sunday, it swept the Critics Choice Documentary Awards. Fielder and Oppenheim, meanwhile, are in the U.K. participating in a slew of post-screening Q&As for Academy and British Academy members — including one moderated by Olivia Wilde — that have drawn the likes of Richard Curtis, Cate Blanchett, Riz Ahmed, Barbara Broccoli and Alex Garland.

Seyfried knows what she is signing up for. “A campaign is a lot,” she says, “It’s time-consuming. It takes all your energy. And I’m totally willing to do it.”

A transcript of THR‘s conversation, lightly edited for clarity and brevity, appears below.

Amanda, you’ve been in awards contention several times — we spoke when you were in the running for Mank, Long Bright River and The Testament of Ann Lee. When you were shooting those projects, I suspect you realized you might wind up in the awards conversation, no? Was that also the case with You Can See Everything?

With Ann Lee maybe, because I thought it was so special and weird, and special weird movies get some kind of halo effect sometimes. But I usually have low expectations because I don’t want to get disappointed. With You Can See Everything, I didn’t even know if it was ever going to come out! They [Fielder and Oppenheim] were searching for the story. They said very early on that A24 was like, “See what happens. And if nothing happens, that’s okay.”

I was at that surprise first screening of You Can See Everything at the Telluride Film Festival on Sept. 6. You were out of the country promoting another movie. How did you first learn that people who had seen the film were flipping out for it and for your contributions to it?

I was in Venice and only found out hours before I went to bed that they were screening the movie in Telluride. I had thought [Oppenheim] were going to Telluride to screen Primetime [Oppenheim’s other 2026 film], so I was as aware as everybody else was. Later Nathan was like, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” I was like, “I don’t care, it’s all good news.” They’re super discreet for a reason, and I totally respect that.

Nathan had screened it for me months before, and I was like, “Okay, cool. I mean, maybe it’ll come out.” Nobody really knew. So when I found out before I went to bed in Venice that it was screening in Telluride, I got really nervous and excited, because I knew it was industry people. And then I woke up to all this chatter and texts from people involved in the movie, and it was that day that I realized that this was going to be kind of an event piece, something that gets under people’s skin. Whether you love it or not, you’re still thinking about it.

People have been trying to figure out how to describe and recognize your work in the film. It has prompted interesting conversations: “Is the film a documentary? Is what you do in the film a performance? How can there be a performance in a documentary? Is it possible to nominate a performance in a documentary?” My question for you: Do you see it as a performance?

Yeah, I do. The reenactments were definitely a challenge. But it’s not like I ever considered that I would be up for any kind of accolade. I understand the politics and the luck and the timing of awards stuff. I don’t really know if we can fully consider it a doc — it’s very genre-bending. I have seen a lot of documentaries, but not enough to know if they’ve ever done anything like this. I know people have said they have never seen anything like it.

I didn’t see the reenactments as anything very special when I watched it — I thought the movie was interesting — but what I have come to understand from actors who I really respect is that the reenactments feel seamless to people after having spent 100 minutes with Elizabeth Holmes. I come in to the film and I’m able to be myself and to have an opinion and to question Nathan — and also to then just disappear by the end in the prison scene. The fact that actors who I respect and love have said that they’ve experienced it almost as if it’s her is the most incredibly flattering thing I’ve ever experienced, and that makes me feel very good. And there are so many actors that want to talk to me about the film, which is so fun because I would talk shop all day!

The experimental feeling that I got when I was part of it and when I was watching it — I feel like that’s why everybody’s talking about it! Does it necessarily need to be celebrated in every way in awards season? No, it’s being celebrated already. But do people want to challenge the awards structure? Probably.

Whether or not the Academy’s documentary branch embraces the film, it seems like a lot of other people in other branches of the Academy love the film and want to recognize it, and A24 seems to be going full-speed-ahead with an unconventional kind of a campaign that will court that sort of recognition. How much of that are you open to being a part of?

I’m fully present for that. I think the amount of events and the amount of presence you need to have when campaigning for these things is pretty extreme — you saw me go through it last year — but it’s still all very positive because getting a seat at the table is the thing. It’s not necessarily about the win, it’s about getting a seat at the table — even quite literally at The Hollywood Reporter roundtable, or stuff like that.

We’re so glad that you’ll be part of that, by the way. Thank you.

Oh, God, yeah, for sure! Put me in a room with other actors and I’m very happy. A campaign is a lot. It’s time-consuming. It takes all your energy. And I’m totally willing to do it. A24 is great. They’re excited, and I’m very proud of the film, so I’m fully ready to engage in that. And I love these filmmakers! I had a great time with this tiny crew. And I think because [the experience] is so rare, and it will never happen again, I’m doubled-down on it.

That doesn’t mean I’m going to do everything I did last year, because I’ve had a year, an interesting year personally [Seyfried and her husband, Thomas Sadoski, who are the parents of two children, announced in September that they have separated], and as grateful as I am that I am where I am, my priorities are pretty clear. The fact that they [A24] didn’t need me to be involved in the press up until this point has been a godsend, because I’ve been needing to be home.

But I’ll do what I need to do because I support the movie and I support the fact that it is unconventional and I want this to proliferate, if that makes sense? I want [Hollywood] to keep being brave. I want to be part of something that inspires actors to take risks, because yeah, I didn’t know what I was getting into, but I had trust in a few people, and then ended up in a project that changed my life.

I’ve been working for a long time, but I’m having an extraordinary experience with You Can See Everything. It’s just following me around, and it’s great, it’s so fun. I like to talk — you’ve seen me — about stuff that I’m crazy about. And so now that they’re going to let me loose and show up, I’m down!