Contents
* 1 Early life and education
* 2 Career
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Filmography
* 5 References
* 6 External links
Early life and education
Banks was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the eldest of four children of Ann and Mark Mitchell. Her father was a factory worker for General Electric and her mother worked in a bank. 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.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. 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...." 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.
In 2009, Banks appeared in the thriller The Uninvited, a remake of the Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. 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". "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".
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). "There was a David O. Russell movie that I really wanted to make with Vince Vaughn that ended up falling apart", 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).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.
Personal life
On July 5, 2003, Banks married sportswriter and producer Max Handelman, who had been her boyfriend since she met him on her first day at college, September 6, 1992. She converted to Judaism upon marrying him.
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
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