Elizabeth (II) Banks filmography and biography
Date of birth: 10 February 1974, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA
Elizabeth (II) Banks biography
Actress Elizabeth Banks was born Elizabeth Mitchell in Pittsfield, a
small city in the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts near the New York
border, on February 10, 1974. She describes herself as having been seen
as a "goody two-shoes" in her youth who was nominated to be the local
Harvest Queen.
Banks left home to attend college at the University of Pennsylvania,
from which she graduated Magna cum Laude, and went on to attend the
Advanced Training Program at the prestigious American Conservatory
Theater in San Francisco, from which she graduated in 1998. She then
moved to New York and worked in the theater as well as obtaining her
first roles on-screen, small parts in movies and guest-star roles on
television series. Seeking more screen work, Banks moved to Los Angeles
and the supporting roles soon came, and required that she change her
name to avoid confusion with another actress named
Elizabeth Mitchell (I) who had already established herself. Her
first signal success came in her delightful, brief performance in
Spider-Man, for which she is best known despite
subsequent leading roles, as "Betty Brant", the secretary of the
cantankerous newspaper tycoon. (Banks has reprised the role in the
Spider-Man series.)
Banks followed up her performance in Spider-Man with small roles in
other movies released that year, Swept Away and
Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, in which
she plays a bank clerk who assists the young Frank Abagnale with vital
information about bank checking policies. More recognition came with
Seabiscuit, in which Banks charmed audiences playing the
wife of Seabiscuit's owner "Charles Howard", and Banks was able to
broker these successes into leading roles, in
Michael Showalter's The Baxter and
James Gunn (II)'s Slither.
The winsome, beautiful Banks projects an exceptionally-charming screen
presence that has drawn comparisons to Audrey Hepburn. Though
her off-screen vocabulary is at times sprinkled with Valley-speak, her
performances demonstrate solid acting skill and a keen intelligence.
Banks and her boyfriend since college days, Max Handelman,
married in 2003.
Elizabeth (II) Banks trivia
- Graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996,
where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta. Was the first in her
family to graduate from college.
- Graduated from American Conservatory Theater's Advanced Training Program
in 1998.
- Enjoys "Fantasy Football" as a hobby.
- Considered for the role of Susan Storm/Invisible Girl in
Fantastic Four, just like Fernanda Romero (II).
- Wife of Max Handelman. She and her husband work as a production
team (Brownstone Productions). They met at the University of
Pennsylvania.
- College friends with Todd Lieberman.
- Oldest of four children in a divided house (Her mom was for the Boston
Red Sox and her dad was for the New York Yankees).
- Converted to Judaism after marrying her husband in 2003.
- Met President George W. Bush when Seabiscuit was
screened at the White House.
In Oliver Stone (I)'s W. (2008/I), she plays the role of
Laura Bush, the president's wife.
- Taking a course on flying the trapeze with a girlfriend (2008).
- Her father, Mark Mitchell, was a factory worker for General Electric and
her mother, Ann Mitchell, worked, until recently, in a bank.
- As a young child, she was a contestant on the Nickelodeon game show,
Finders Keepers.
- Graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992.
- Poltergeist was the scariest movie she has ever seen. She
saw it, with her sister, when she was eleven.
- Is a major fan of David Letterman.
- Turned down a role in The Crazies because the role was too
similar with her character in Slither, and she didn't
want to repeat herself.
- Got the role in Zack and Miri Make a Porno after
Rosario Dawson turned it down.
- Bad Santa is her favorite holiday movie.
Elizabeth (II) Banks quotes
- I really think that we do a disservice to young people in America by not
being more open about sex. Abstinence programs do not work. It's a
natural, physical thing having sex.
- I'm pleased that Hollywood hasn't figured out how to pigeonhole me
yet..."
- I love physical comedy. I love Oscar Wilde, I love Shakespeare
comedies, I love improv. I knew I had a knack for it at a certain
level, but I came into this business as a classically trained drama
student and that was my reputation. When you live in a leading lady's
body, which I do, you have to constantly prove that you are funny.
- Every once and a while I play a true idiot, and they're really fun to
play.