Errol Morris Reveals Untapped Two-Hour Elizabeth Holmes Interview

Documentary filmmaker Errol Morris has confirmed he possesses a two-hour interview with Elizabeth Holmes that has never been publicly released. The 78-year-old director, known for works such as "The Thin Blue Line" and "The Fog of War," told Variety that he is seriously considering editing the footage into a film. This revelation comes as interest in Holmes and her former company, Theranos, resurges around the release of the recent docu-series "You Can See Everything," directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim.

Morris stated that he has been unable to view "You Can See Everything" despite reaching out to distributors for a screener copy. He noted that he only recently watched Alex Gibney's 2019 documentary, "The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley," for the first time. Upon viewing that film, he was surprised to find that it included outtakes from the commercial spots he directed for Theranos in 2015. Those spots, which featured Holmes staring directly into the camera, have frequently been cited as contributing to the company's public mystique.

The interview with Holmes was conducted during the peak of her fame, shortly after she appeared on the cover of Forbes magazine. Morris explained that he had been hired specifically because of his previous commercial work for Apple and Steve Jobs. At the time, he did not believe Holmes was a fraud. He said he had attempted to produce a full documentary about her for years, but legal proceedings and indictments prevented the project from moving forward.

Morris described the unreleased interview as a "true believer" portrait of Holmes. He said he watched the two-hour tape recently and was struck by the evidence of her self-deception. While acknowledging that Holmes committed fraud, Morris expressed interest in the psychology behind her actions. He asked whether she believed in her own claims and whether she genuinely thought the blood-testing technology would work as promised. He contrasted this with the typical legal question of guilt or innocence, arguing that the degree of self-deception is a more compelling narrative element.

The director noted that Gibney's film begins and ends with clips from his interview with Holmes. Morris admitted he does not know how Gibney obtained the extra footage from the commercials or the interview. He stated that he was not informed about the extent to which his work would be used in the 2019 film. He also mentioned that he was recently interviewed by John Carreyrou, the author of "Bad Blood," for an article in The New York Times. In that piece, Carreyrou discussed Morris's past inquiries about participating in a documentary.

Morris drew a comparison between Holmes and the historical figure Joan of Arc, specifically referencing the 1957 film directed by Robert Bresson. He explained that while he does not believe in the divine communications Joan of Arc claimed to receive, he believes she genuinely thought she was hearing God. He applied similar logic to Holmes, suggesting she may have been operating under a similar delusion of certainty. Morris clarified that this comparison was about the nature of self-deception rather than the method of her punishment.

He also addressed the criticism that the commercials he directed contributed to Holmes's persona. Morris said he was shocked when the company collapsed because he believed in Holmes at the time. He joined other board members in stating that they did not knowingly represent a fraud. He recounted a anecdote about a rejected idea for a Depend commercial involving a general in a tank, illustrating his history of unconventional commercial pitches that were often turned down by clients.

Morris said the primary reason the Holmes interview was not released in 2015 was that he had moved on to other projects after the company began to fall apart. However, he now views the footage as a valuable document of Holmes during her most successful period. He has not yet finalized a decision on whether to release the material, but he described it as an interesting artifact that offers a different perspective on the founder of Theranos.