Olivia Cavallaro Culture 09.13.2022 02:Sep AM EDT

'The Dropout' Star Amanda Seyfried Wins Emmy Award for Playing Disgraced Tech Founder

The 36 year old actress from Pennsylvania took home her very first Emmy Award at this year's ceremony.

The 74th Annual Emmy Awards on Monday night honored first time winner Amanda Seyfried for her portrayal of the disgraced tech founder Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu's critically acclaimed limited series, "The Dropout." Seyfried's compelling portrayal of the Theranos founder, who was convicted of fraud this year, was enough to grant her a win in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category.

In her short speech, Seyfried expressed gratitude for recognizing her performance in the Hulu series, which began streaming on March 3 and was based on the podcast The Dropout hosted by Rebecca Jarvis, TVLine reported. The series was created by Elizabeth Meriwether, who is also behind the Fox sitcom "New Girl."

Amanda Seyfried's Stellar Acting Career Before 'The Dropout'

Seyfried first rose to fame in the early aughts after playing Karen Smith, one of The Plastics in the 2004 hit comedy film "Mean Girls." Four years later, she showed her acting and singing range by playing the lead in the musical film "Mama Mia!," which spawned a sequel called "Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" that arrived in 2018. Among Seyfried's many notable films are "Jennifer's Body," "Dear John," Letters to Juliet," "Red Riding Hood," "In Time," and more recently, "Things Heard & Seen" and "A Mouthful of Air."

While this is the first time Seyfried was honored with an Emmy Award, the 36 year old has been nominated for many other awards and even has a Satellite Award and a Hollywood Television Critics Association award to her name, the latter of which was also for her work in Hulu's "The Dropout."

Amanda Seyfried Looks Back at 'The Dropout' Role

Playing a real life person like Elizabeth Holmes was a huge deal for Seyfried, who found that she had something in common with the disgraced Theranos founder. She shared to Deadline that they were both in dance teams in high school but were not very good at it.

"The fact we both had that in our past and how I have seen her dance in a way that was not good...that was one of the ways I connected with her," Seyfried shared. Holmes was famous for dropping out of Stanford and charming investors enough to invest in her tech startup called Theranos, whose goal was to bring blood testing technology to one's home.

Seyfried was lauded for playing Holmes convincingly, down to her often-mocked lowered voice, which had been found to be fake. The actress later told press at the Emmy Awards that she was honestly "so over her by the end of the show."

Seyfried explained that in playing Holmes, she had to "delude" herself and "have compassion for her" despite the fact that she fraudulently received millions of dollars in funding for technology that did not work. The actress said that she "gave it all" every day she played the role and had to "throw her away" once production wrapped.

Seyfried was up against several other outstanding performances this year, including those from Toni Collette for "The Staircase, Julia Garner for "Inventing Anna," Lily James for "Pam & Tommy," Sarah Paulson for "Impeachment: American Crime Story," and Margaret Qualley for "Maid."