A striking actress with a sophisticated, well-bred look, Elizabeth Banks quickly earned a reputation as one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood. Originally hailing from Massachusetts, Banks received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her graduate degree at the American Conservatory Theater, where she garnered extensive stage credits in productions such as Hurly Burly, Bethlehem, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Woman of No Importance and Uncle Vanya, as well as the Guthrie Theater's production of Summer & Smoke.
Bit parts under screen names including Elizabeth Casey and her birth name Elizabeth Maresal Mitchell gradually led to more prominent turns as in indie fare like the drama Surrender Dorothy (1998) and the far-out summer camp comedy Wet Hot American Summer (2001), The Trade (2001), small roles in big pictures like John Singletons Shaft remake (2000) and guest spots on TV series including Law & Order: SVU, HBO's Sex and the City and NBC's Third Watch. She first caught Hollywoods attention in a minor but noticeable role as J. Jonah Jamesons secretary Betty Brant in Spider-Man (2002), a role director Sam Raimi had added especially for her. She followed that box office smash up with an appearance in director Guy Ritchies ill-received remake Swept Away (2002) as one of the socialites boating with Madonna, but she quickly rebounded with another small but eye-grabbing role in director Steven Spielbergs Catch Me If You Can (2002), as a bank teller who is unwittingly instrumental in teaching young con artist Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio) some tricks of the con-artistry trade.
Her new cachet inspired Movieline magazine to dub her one of Young Hollywoods up-and-comers, and she followed up on her potential with another small but winning roles, playing Jeff Bridges lively, devoted young second wife Marcela in the true-life story of racehorse and folk hero Seabiscuit (2003), before returning to the world of superheroic romance for the sequel Spider-Man 2 (2004). Banks then gave a strong performance in Heights (2005), a weighty romantic drama in which she played a NYC photographer whose second thoughts about her pending marriage to a lawyer (James Mardsen) sparks life decisions for her and four others in the span of one night. Shifting gears effectively into high comedy for "The 40 Year-Old Virgin" (2005), Banks was a hoot as the sexually charged bookstore clerk who sets her eyes on Steve Carell's intercourse-impaired electronics salesman.
Next she vamped her way through the comic horror flick, Slither (2006), playing the wife of a businessman (Michael Rooker) whos inhabited by an alien being that begins to spread squirming space slugs throughout a small hunting town, turning the population into a multitude of mindless zombies. Banks then costarred in Invincible (2006), the true-to-life telling of improbable NFL player Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg), a former part-timer bartender turned special teams star on the Philadelphia Eagles. She played Janet, Papales girlfriend and fellow bartender, with tomboyish charm, making her scenes with Wahlberg sparkle. Banks was next signed on to revive Betty Brandt in Spider-Man 3, which was set for release in summer 2007.
Copyright © Baseline 2006.