Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks is an American actress, producer, and director. Banks made her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy, and is known for her roles in such films as Wet Hot American Summer, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Seabiscuit, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Role Models, The Next Three Days, Pitch Perfect, The Lego Movie, and The Hunger Games films. In 2014, she portrayed Melinda Ledbetter, the girlfriend and later wife of the Beach Boys...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth10 February 1974
CityPittsfield, MA
CountryUnited States of America
I went to a few really bad commercial auditions because I needed the money, and when you booked a commercial, your life was made: you could eat.
I had an audition for Mary Jane Watson in 'Spiderman' and ended up playing Betty Brant in that series. I auditioned for Amy Adams' role in 'Catch Me If You Can' and, you know, ended up playing the bank teller. So there were a lot of times early on where I felt like I was always sort of the bridesmaid, never the bride - never quite right.
I'm not a particularly shiny, happy person. I'm fairly cynical, and that's what draws me to comedy.
It's not good to put in a magazine what I weigh because it's too little. People freak out when they hear what I weigh. They think, 'Oh, you're too skinny.'
You have got to have an agent, ... It's a business. But I think there is a way to be artful and commercial at the same time.
People ask me how I stay thin, and I'm like, 'When you go to the grocery store, buy more bananas than cookies.'
You know, women in Hollywood, we don't get action franchises and superheroes. The rom-coms that made Julia Roberts, Sandra Bullock, and Reese Witherspoon stars are out of favor right now- nobody is making them. In this business, if you are an ambitious person, you don't wait for people to hand you opportunities. You have to make a way for yourself.
It's pretty easy to hear what people are physically responding to versus what's just flat as a pancake in the room when it comes to jokes.
So knowing that you can actually help yourself stay healthy over a long shoot where you get no sleep and what you eat really matters. It really mattered that there was a juice bar. You know?
I'm not interested in making movies only with female protagonists. I think it's ridiculous to think that a female director can't direct men. That makes no sense to me.
When I was in college I was accused of being a goody two-shoes. But every goody two-shoes has a bad side.
I love working with a stylist but I also love having personal relationships with designers. A stylist is great for pulling together an entire outfit, accessories included, and for shaking me out of my comfort zone.
Every once in a while I play a true idiot, and they're really fun to play.
I love physical comedy. I love Oscar Wilde, I love Shakespeare comedies, I love improv.