Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell;[1] February 10, 1974)[2] is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for playing chaperone Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015) and an ICCA commentator in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017). She made her directorial film debut with Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), whose $69 million opening-weekend gross set a record for a first-time director.[3][4] She has since directed the action comedy Charlie's Angels (2019) and the horror comedy film Cocaine Bear (2023). Banks founded the film and television production company Brownstone Productions in 2002 with her husband, Max Handelman.
Banks was born and raised in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the eldest of four children of Ann (née Wallace) and Mark P. Mitchell.[6] Her father, a Vietnam Warveteran, was a factory worker for General Electric, and her mother worked in a bank.[7] She described her family as "very meat-and-potatoes, old-school Irish Catholic."[8] Growing up, she played baseball and rode horses. She was in Little League when she broke her leg sliding into third base. She then tried out for the school play, which was her start in acting.[9]
After auditioning in New York, she was offered a role on the soap opera Santa Barbara. Taking the role would have required her to quit her education at the American Conservatory Theater, and as she had taken out student loans to complete her degree, she declined the offer.[16] She made her acting debut in the 1998 independent film Surrender Dorothy as Elizabeth Casey, and appeared in various films over the next seven years, including Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Swept Away (2002) and Seabiscuit (2003).[17] Her most notable role up to that point was Betty Brant in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007).
Banks gained more prominent widespread exposure with her role in the 2005 comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin.[18] In August 2005, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, she starred in William Inge's Bus Stop as Cherie, the aspiring nightclub singer.[19] Jeffrey Borak wrote that Banks' portrayal was acted "with poise, clarity and a shrewd feel for Cherie's complexities. Her performance is all of a piece and in harmony, stylistically, with the performances around her."[20] In 2005, she appeared on the series Stella, and in May 2006, she had a role in the season five finale of the NBC sitcom Scrubs as Dr. Kim Briggs, the love interest of J.D. (Zach Braff). Banks appeared throughout seasons six, seven, and eight as a recurring guest star.[21]
In 2006, Banks appeared in the American football drama film Invincible, in which she played Mark Wahlberg's love interest. Later, she and co-star Wahlberg were nominated for the "Best Kiss" award at the MTV Movie Awards.[22] That same year, she landed the starring role in the comedy-horror film Slither.[23]
In 2009, Banks appeared in the horror film The Uninvited, a remake of the South Korean film A Tale of Two Sisters.[26] The film was about an intrusive stepmother who makes life miserable for the teen daughters of her new husband. Banks based her character, Rachel, on Rebecca De Mornay's character in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.[27] "It was very important to me that every line reading I gave could be interpreted two ways," says Banks of her role, "So that when you go back through the movie you can see that".[27]
In 2012, Banks starred in the romantic comedy film What to Expect When You're Expecting and the action film Man on a Ledge. She also starred as Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect, which became a critical and commercial success. The next year she directed and starred in separate segments of Movie 43, a critically panned comedy anthology film.[32]
Banks starred in the science fiction adventure film The Hunger Games (2012), playing Effie Trinket, a woman from "The Capitol" who escorts the District 12 tributes to the annual Hunger Games. She went on to reprise the role in the sequel films The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015).[21] Banks co-starred in the 2014 movie Every Secret Thing, playing Detective Nancy Porter investigating the disappearance of a young child with similarities to a case she had previously been involved with.[33] The same year, she provided the voice of the Master Builder Wyldstyle in the Warner Bros. animated film The Lego Movie.[34]
In 2014, Banks was recognized by Elle Magazine during The Women in Hollywood Awards, honoring women for their outstanding achievements in film, spanning all aspects of the motion picture industry, including acting, directing, and producing.[35]
2015–present: Directorial debut
After producing and starring in the film Pitch Perfect (2012), Banks directed its sequel, Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), making her feature directorial debut. She also co-produced and starred in both Pitch Perfect 2 and the next sequel, Pitch Perfect 3 (2017).[36]
On May 2, 2019, ABC announced Banks as the host of the summer 2019 revival of the game show Press Your Luck, which she also executive produces.[48] Banks directed, produced, wrote, and starred as Bosley in the action comedy film Charlie's Angels, which was released in November 2019.[49] In 2020, she starred as feminist Jill Ruckelshaus in the FX miniseries Mrs. America.[50]
In November 2019, it was announced that Banks was set to star in, direct, and produce a new adaptation of The Invisible Woman (1940), based on her own original story pitch. Erin Cressida Wilson will write the script for the reboot of the female monster, while Max Handelman and Alison Small will serve as producer and executive producer, respectively.[51]
Banks directed the 2023 comedy horror film Cocaine Bear, which she produced alongside Max Handelman for Brownstone Productions, and Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. The film grossed 90 million on a 30 to 35 million production budget. [55] In May 2021, Peacock announced that Banks would direct and star in the upcoming television series Red Queen, based on the dystopian novel of the same name.[56]
In January 2022, Banks was cast in the film The Beanie Bubble, co-directed by Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash.[57]
In March 2023 it was announced that Banks would executive produce and voice the character Pebbles Flintstone in the upcoming Fox animated prime-time series Bedrock, which would be a reboot of the original series The Flintstones and would take place two decades after that series.[58] On July 18, 2024, it was announced that plans for Bedrock were cancelled by Fox and were no longer happening.[59]
Personal life
Banks during a USO visit at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan in 2015
Banks met her husband, Max Handelman, a sportswriter and producer from Portland, Oregon,[60] on her first day of college on September 7, 1992. They were married in 2003 and have two sons, both born via surrogacy.[12][61] Banks said that people have criticized her for using a surrogate mother, even though she was unable to carry her own children due to infertility issues. "I don't feel I owe anybody an explanation...If my story helps people feel less alone on their journey, then I'm grateful for that," Banks said in an interview with Porter's Edit.[62]
Banks went through parts of conversion to Judaism, her husband's faith, and studied with rabbis. In 2013, speaking of her religion, she stated that she practices Judaism, though "I did not have my mikveh, so, technically, I'm not converted," but that she has "been essentially a Jew for like 15 years," adding, "Frankly, because I'm already doing everything [practicing religious rituals], I feel like I'm as Jewish as I'm ever going to be."[63][64]
In September 2020, Banks urged her Instagram followers to contact VoteRiders to get information and assistance with voter ID requirements for the presidential election.[70][71]
^Banks, Elizabeth (November 4, 2015). "Love & Mercy, Elizabeth Banks". DP/30: The Oral History of Hollywood (Interview). Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
^"Swept Away". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
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