Elizabeth Banks, American actress
Elizabeth Banks (born Elizabeth Irene Mitchell; February 10, 1974) is an American actress, director, and producer. She is known for playing Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games film series (2012–2015) and Gail Abernathy-McKadden in the Pitch Perfect film series (2012–2017). Banks made her directorial film debut with Pitch Perfect 2 (2015), whose $69 million opening-weekend gross set a record for a first-time director. She also directed, wrote, produced, and starred in the action comedy film Charlie's Angels (2019). Banks founded the film and television production company Brownstone Productions in October 2002, with her husband Max Handelman.
Banks made her film debut in the low-budget independent film Surrender Dorothy (1998). She starred in the films Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy (2002–2007), Seabiscuit (2003), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Slither (2006), Invincible (2006), Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), Role Models (2008), The Next Three Days (2010), Man on a Ledge (2012), What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012), Movie 43 (2013), The Lego Movie (2014) and its 2019 sequel, Love & Mercy (2014), Walk of Shame (2014), Magic Mike XXL (2015), Power Rangers (2017), and Brightburn (2019).
On television, Banks had a recurring role as Avery Jessup on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She had recurring roles on the comedy series Scrubs and Modern Family, the latter of which earned her a third Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Banks starred in the Netflix miniseries Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015) and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later (2017). As of 2019, she hosts a revival of the 1980s game show Press Your Luck on ABC.