The Tonight Show opened Wednesday with a staring contest. Jimmy Fallon, in a dark wig and full deadpan, sat across from his guest Jamie Lee Curtis, who had slipped into a blonde wig and an unblinking stare to play Elizabeth Holmes, in a cold open spoof of the documentary You Can See Everything.
The sketch recreates the interview setup of that film, the A24 documentary co-directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim that follows Holmes in the final 34 days before the Theranos founder reported to prison for fraud. It arrived as a surprise premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in September, opened in theaters on October 16, and has since passed $50 million at the North American box office, with Fielder’s hushed, awkward sit-downs with Holmes turning into a full-blown meme along the way.
Fallon leaned into that meme-famous line of questioning. “Now, be honest. Do you really want to be on the show tonight?” he asked. “Of course I do. I love talking to you,” Curtis answered in her best Holmes voice.
He pressed on. “So, you’re not just here to promote your new show, Newlyweds?” Curtis did not blink. “No, I’m engaging with you as a human being,” she said. “Why would I deceive you? There’s no reason for me to do that. There’s nothing for me to deceive you on.”
“Good chat,” Fallon concluded, with one last check: “You’re being real right now?” “I’m always being real,” Curtis said. The moment he left the room, she dropped the act completely, exhaling a relieved “Thank God!” before sharing what she really thought of the interview.
Curtis was on the show to promote Newlyweds, the NBC sitcom she co-created and executive produces, in which she guest-stars as Claudia alongside stars Téa Leoni and Tim Daly. It premiered on Friday, October 23, airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC and streams on Peacock. Wednesday was a full NBC day for her: that morning on Today, she watched her 1981 interview with Tom Brokaw, when the show joked that NBC stood for “Nothing But Curtis.”
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on NBC, with episodes streaming on Peacock.