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By Sarah Gassel
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At a You Can See Everything-inspired contest in New York City’s Washington Square Park on November 7, attendees were asked to pick out the fraudsters among a group of wide-eyed, turtleneck-wearing Elizabeth Holmes look-alikes. But a bigger deception remained—who was behind the event?
In a surprise twist days after the contest, the Austin-based fraud prevention software company Verisoul aptly revealed itself as the organizer in a *Nathan For You-*style announcement.
“The plan: Host a viral look-alike contest of Elizabeth Holmes to get people excited about fraud prevention software,” a Nathan Fielder impersonator said in a video posted by the company. Unfortunately, the company was just a decade too late to help Theranos investors.
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You Can See Everything has taken the world by storm, surpassing $80 million at the box office in North America. The A24 documentary follows Elizabeth Holmes—the disgraced founder and CEO of the health technology company Theranos—in the month before starting her prison sentence for defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Fans have rallied around Canadian filmmaker and comedian Nathan Fielder, who starred in and co-directed the documentary with Primetime director Lance Oppenheim. Moviegoers have struggled to find tickets in New York City, and advance tickets in the U.K. and France have already sold out.
Almost as popular as the documentary itself are the look-alike contests, where messy blond buns and wide eyes sporting smudged eyeliner—Holmes’ classic look—are met with salt-and-pepper-haired, headphone-wearing Fielder impersonators. The buzz around these events has even attracted a company to play into the bit.
This past weekend alone, others took place in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., while one in Toronto is planned for November 17.
Even the one in Washington Square Park wasn’t the city’s first contest. Just a week before, another one took place at the same location. “That look-alike competition was, in fact, a rehearsal,” Henry LeGard, the then-incognito CEO of Verisoul, said to the hundreds of attendees that came to watch the event.
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Stephen Kita, one Nathan look-alike contestant, sees Fielder as pivotal in creating the buzz around the film.
“I think he's really good at focusing in on people and really paying attention,” Kita, who dressed as Fielder for Halloween, told Newsweek. “In an environment where everyone's attention is so distracted, for someone to come in and do that kind of work is like a breath of fresh air in a way, and I think people are responding to that.”
Perhaps the best evidence of this response was contestants’ dedication to the bit. Several Nathan look-alikes lugged around MacBooks, a reference to Fielder’s The Rehearsal. Elizabeth impersonators brought yellow bowls resembling the one used in a well-known scene from the film of Holmes mixing eggs.
Two large sets had also been assembled in the park for photo ops. In one emulating Holmes’ desk, complete with a nameplate and a framed Theranos poster, contestants posed holding prop pills between their forefingers and thumbs, imitating a famous Forbes cover of the CEO. In the other set, volunteers handed out cups of coffee from a Dumbest Starbucks stand—a popular reference to the series that made Fielder famous, Nathan for You.
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As the contest officially began, hundreds gathered around an elevated platform watching Elizabeth look-alikes go head-to-head in staring matches, while Nathan contestants pitched their best business ideas. With three dozen Elizabeths and about as many Nathans, competition was fierce, and those lacking a niche knowledge of the documentary and Fielder’s other work did not fare well in the crowd vote.
“This one’s going to Billy,” Katie Valenti, who tied with fellow contestant Lauren Kubricky for first place in the Elizabeth look-alike, told Newsweek. The prize? A DNA testing kit and an orange jumpsuit with “HOLMES” printed on the back.
The prizes for the Nathan look-alike contest, which also resulted in a tie, called back to earlier Fielder references: a $50 rebate and a certificate to “One of Canada’s Top Business Schools.”
Zander Bolgar, who won alongside Antony Yun, has been told he looks like Fielder for years. This year, he decided to elevate the resemblance. “This was my Halloween costume,” Bolgar told Newsweek.
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Public celebrity look-alike contests became popular again after a Timothée Chalamet contest in Washington Square Park went viral in 2024. But it takes a cult following to inspire contests across the country and beyond.
“We're lucky to be alive in the same timeline as Nathan Fielder,” Deanna Director, another Elizabeth look-alike, told Newsweek. “He's our Andy Kaufman.”
While the reaction to Holmes among the crowd was less positive, there’s no denying the film has piqued a fascination that has fans wondering whether it could be the first documentary to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Director said she believes it will be a sure win.
“I think people love Nathan,” Director said. “I don't think people would've seen it if he hadn't been behind it, but because of all the buzz he's generated, it's just this super special moment in culture.”
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