‘SNL’ star from Sea Cliff lands lead role in new miniseries

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Emmy-award winning actress and Sea Cliff native Kate McKinnon, of “Saturday Night Live,” will portray Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, in a new miniseries for Hulu. The streaming service is set to adapt ABC Nightline’s investigative podcast series, “The Dropout,” about Holmes and her failed med-tech company, which was once valued at $9 billion.

McKinnon, who graduated from North Shore High School in 2002, debuted on the late-night sketch comedy show in 2012. She is best known for her impressions of famous public figures, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She has also starred in films on the big screen, including the “Ghostbusters” reboot, “Rough Night” and “The Spy Who Dumped Me.”

This will be McKinnon’s first role on the stream screen. In addition to playing Holmes she will executive produce the project alongside “The Dropout’s” host, Rebecca Jarvis. The miniseries will adapt the name of Jarvis’ podcast, which depicts Holmes’ whirlwind career in Silicon Valley.

After dropping out of Stanford, Holmes set out to revolutionize the medical industry a la Steve Jobs with a device known as the Edison, a compact unit that, in theory, could conduct a full range of lab tests from a few drops of blood rather than vials and vials-worth. An investigative report from The Wall Street Journal in 2015 revealed, however, that the tech behind the product was unrealistic, concluding that Theranos had deceived doctors and patients. The company has since dissolved, and Holmes faced criminal charges as a result of the alleged fraud.

The project follows the release of a HBO documentary directed by Alex Gibney with Holmes as the central subject: “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.” While there is no set launch date for the Hulu series, it is reported to be between six to ten episodes long.