Kate McKinnon Will No Longer Play Elizabeth Holmes in Hulu Series About Controversial Theranos Founder

Kate McKinnon will no longer play disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout, Hulu's limited drama series based on the ABC News podcast of the same name. McKinnon had been attached to the series from the start and had been set to not only step into the role of Holmes, but also executive produce.

At this time, McKinnon has not addressed her departure from the series, which was given a series order in April 2019. McKinnon was set to begin filming The Dropout following the conclusion of Saturday Night Live's current season in May. According to The Hollywood Reporter, sources say the Hulu series will move forward without her, with production slated to begin sometime this summer. The limited drama series will now look to cast a new actor in McKinnon's place.

Based on the ABC News podcast, The Dropout centers on Holmes, who was once dubbed as the next Steve Jobs after she founded the privately held health technology company Theranos in 2013 at just 19. The company invented the Edison machine, a diagnostic tool which the company claimed tested for 200 diseases and required less blood than traditional exams. The machine, however, didn't actually work, leading to scandal. Holmes, who became one of the richest women in the world, was indicted by a federal jury in 2018 on nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Variety reports.

"Money. Romance. Tragedy. Deception. The story of Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos is an unbelievable tale of ambition and fame gone terribly wrong," ABC News' synopsis for the podcast reads. "How did the world's youngest self-made female billionaire lose it all in the blink of an eye? How did the woman once heralded as 'the next Steve Jobs' find herself facing criminal charges — to which she pleaded not guilty — and up to 20 years in jail? How did her technology, meant to revolutionize healthcare, potentially put millions of patients at risk? And how did so many smart people get it so wrong along the way?"

The Dropout is produced by Fox Searchlight's year-old TV division, with podcast host Rebecca Jarvis serving as executive producer. Podcast producers Victoria Thompson and Taylor Dunn will also serve as executive producers. The series was one of two series McKinnon had lined up, with the actress still set to star as Carole Baskin in NBCUniversal's Joe Exotic series, which is set to drop sometime in 2022. McKinnon is also signed on as executive producer for that series.