Elizabeth Banks

Elizabeth Banks (née Mitchell) is an American actress, filmmaker, and producer. She is widely recognized for her roles as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series and an ICCA commentator in the Pitch Perfect franchise. Outside of acting, Banks made her feature directorial debut with the musical comedy Pitch Perfect 2, which set a record gross for a first-time director during its opening weekend. She later directed the action comedy Charlie's Angels and the horror comedy Cocaine Bear.

Born on February 10, 1974, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Banks spent her youth playing baseball and riding horses before getting involved in acting through a school play after breaking her leg in Little League. She graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992 and earned a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor in theater arts magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. She completed her master's degree in fine arts at the American Conservatory Theater in 1998. Upon joining the Screen Actors Guild, she adopted the stage name Elizabeth Banks to avoid confusion with another registered actress.

Banks made her film debut in the 1998 independent movie Surrender Dorothy. In the early 2000s, she appeared in Wet Hot American Summer, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy as Betty Brant, and Seabiscuit. Her career reached a broader audience following her role in the 2005 comedy film The 40-Year-Old Virgin. In 2002, she established her production company, Brownstone Productions, alongside her future husband, Max Handelman.

Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s, Banks took on diverse roles across various film genres, appearing in Slither, Invincible, Meet Bill, Fred Claus, Definitely, Maybe, W., Zack and Miri Make a Porno, The Uninvited, The Next Three Days, Man on a Ledge, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and Love & Mercy. She voiced Wyldstyle in The Lego Movie series and starred in projects such as Power Rangers, Brightburn, Call Jane, Migration, and Skincare.

On television, Banks portrayed recurring roles as Avery Jessup on 30 Rock, Dr. Kim Briggs on Scrubs, and Sal on Modern Family, while also appearing in the Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and its sequel. Beginning in 2019, she took on host and executive producer duties for the ABC revival of the game show Press Your Luck. Her television work led to three Primetime Emmy Award nominations—two for 30 Rock and one for Modern Family. She also appeared as feminist Jill Ruckelshaus in the miniseries Mrs. America.

In addition to her screen achievements, Banks was honored by Elle Magazine at The Women in Hollywood Awards in 2014 and served on the Jury for the Main Competition at the 2015 Venice Film Festival. Banks married Max Handelman in 2003, with whom she has two sons, and she remains actively involved in film, television, and sports ventures, including serving on an advisory board for the National Women's Soccer League.