SS Doll: Elizabeth Banks

Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell^[1] (born February 10, 1974), known professionally as Elizabeth Banks, is an American actress. Banks had her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy. Since then, she has been well-known for her roles in Definitely, Maybe, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, W., Role Models, Wet Hot American Summer, The Uninvited and the Spider-Man franchise. Banks has also portrayed roles as guest star in television shows through her career, including the role of Dr. Kim Briggs, Zach Braff's love interest in the television sitcom Scrubs, and her role as Avery Jessup, Jack Donaghy's wife in 30 Rock.

Early life and education

Banks was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the eldest of four children of Ann and Mark Mitchell.^[2] Her father was a factory worker for General Electric and her mother worked in a bank.^[3] As a young child, she was a contestant on the Nickelodeon game show Finders Keepers. She graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992 and is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in 1996, where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority. In 1998, she completed schooling at the American Conservatory Theater and earned an MFA.

Career

Banks changed her name to avoid confusion with actress Elizabeth Mitchell.^[4] She debuted in the independent film Surrender Dorothy, as Elizabeth Casey, and quickly gained widespread exposure through the comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin.
In August 2005, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Banks starred in William Inge's Bus Stop as Cherie, the sexy, blond, aspiring nightclub singer.^[5] 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...."^[6] In 2005, she appeared on the show Stella, and in May 2006, she had a role in the season five finale of the NBC comedy Scrubs as Dr. Kim Briggs, the love interest of J.D. (Zach Braff). The character has appeared throughout seasons six, seven and eight as a recurring guest star.
In 2006, Banks appeared in the American football drama film Invincible, in which she played Mark Wahlberg's love interest. The film is based on the true story of bartender Vince Papale. Later, she and co-star Walhberg were nominated for the "Best Kiss" award at the MTV Movie Award. Also that year, she landed the starring role in the comedy-horror Slither. Despite mildly positive reviews from critics, it grossed only $12 million worldwide, less than half the budget of the film.

Banks at the 2007 Spider-Man 3 premiere.

In 2007, she played the female lead in the comedy Meet Bill, alongside Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba. Also that year, Banks had a small role in the Christmas comedy film Fred Claus, co-starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti. In 2008, she played a love interest in the comedy Definitely, Maybe, alongside Isla Fisher and Ryan Reynolds, starred with Seth Rogen as the eponymous female lead in the Kevin Smith comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and played United States First Lady Laura Bush in W, Oliver Stone's biopic of George W. Bush.^[7]
In 2009, Banks appeared in the thriller The Uninvited, a remake of the Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters.^[8] 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".^[9] "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".^[9]
Banks is a frequent co-star of actor Paul Rudd, the two having appeared in four films together to date (Wet Hot American Summer, The Baxter, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Role Models).^[10] "There was a David O. Russell movie that I really wanted to make with Vince Vaughn that ended up falling apart",^[9] said Banks, referring to the film H-Man Cometh, in a January 2009 interview.
On December 8, 2009, it was announced that Banks would appear in at least four episodes of the Emmy-winning sitcom 30 Rock as a love interest for Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin).^[11] She went on to appear in nine episodes of the fourth season. Banks is set to star alongside Leslie Mann in What Was I Thinking?, based upon the book by Barbara Davilman and Liz Dubelman.^[12]

Personal life

On July 5, 2003, Banks married sportswriter and producer Max Handelman,^[13] who had been her boyfriend since she met him on her first day at college, September 6, 1992.^[14] She converted to Judaism upon marrying him.^[15][16] She and her husband welcomed their first child, a boy named Felix via gestational host in March 2011.^[17]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Surrender Dorothy	Vicki	Credited as "Elizabeth Casey"
2000	Shaft	Trey's friend	Credited as "Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell"
2001	Wet Hot American Summer	Lindsay
2001	Ordinary Sinner	Rachel
2002	Spider-Man	Betty Brant
2002	Swept Away	Debi
2002	Catch Me If You Can	Lucy Forrest
2002	Stella Shorts 1998-2002	Woman at yoga class	Short films; direct-to-DVD release
2003	The Trade	Sioux Sever
2003	Seabiscuit	Marcela Howard	Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Spider-Man 2	Betty Brant
2005	Heights	Isabel
2005	Sexual Life	Sarah
2005	The Sisters	Nancy Pecket
2005	The Baxter	Caroline Swann
2005	The 40-Year-Old Virgin	Beth
2005	Daltry Calhoun	May
2006	Slither	Starla Grant
2006	Invincible	Janet Cantrell	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (with Mark Wahlberg)
2007	Spider-Man 3	Betty Brant
2007	Meet Bill	Jess
2007	Fred Claus	Charlene
2008	Definitely, Maybe	Emily Jones
2008	Meet Dave	Gina Morrison
2008	Lovely, Still	Alex
2008	Zack and Miri Make a Porno	Miriam "Miri" Linky
2008	W.	Laura Bush	Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008	Role Models	Beth Jones
2009	Big Breaks	Starlet	Short
2009	The Uninvited	Rachel Summers
2009	Surrogates		Executive Producer
2010	The Details	Nealy Lang
2010	The Next Three Days	Lara
2011	Movie 43		Filming
2011	My Idiot Brother	Miranda	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Third Watch	Elaine Elchisak	"Patterns" (season 1, episode 3) Credited as "Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell"
2000	Sex and the City	Catherine	"Politically Erect" (season 3, episode 2)
2001	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jaina Tobias Jansen	"Sacrifice" (season 3, episode 7)
2002	Without a Trace	Clarissa	"Snatch Back" (season 1, episode 7)
2005	Stella	Tamara	"Meeting Girls" (season 1, episode 6)
2006–2007, 2009	Scrubs	Dr. Kim Briggs	Recurring role
2007–2008	Wainy Days	Shelly	"Shelly" (season 1, episode 1) "The Date" (season 1, episode 2) "Shelly 2" (season 3, episode 6)
2007–2008	American Dad!	Becky Arangino Lisa Silver	"The Vacation Goo" (season 3, episode 1) "1600 Candles" (season 4, episode 1) "Escape from Pearl Bailey" (season 4, episode 5)
2008	Comanche Moon	Maggie Tilton	TV mini-series
2009	Modern Family	Sal	"Great Expectations" (season 1, episode 8)
2010	30 Rock	Avery Jessup	Recurring Role