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 is the daughter of Anne Marie (Wallace), who worked in a bank, and Mark Phineas Mitchell, a factory worker. Elizabeth describes herself as having been seen as a "goody two-shoes" in her youth who was nominated for 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, graduating in 1996. She then moved to New York and worked in the theater, and began getting small roles in films and on television. Seeking more screen work, she moved to Los Angeles and was soon cast in supporting roles. She also had to change her last name, to Banks, in order to avoid confusion with actress Elizabeth Mitchell.

Her breakthrough role was as Betty Brant, the secretary of the cantankerous newspaper tycoon in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002). She followed up this performance with small roles in other movies: Swept Away (2002), Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002), Seabiscuit (2003) and The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005). In 2003 she won the Exciting New Face Award at the Young Hollywood Awards. The winsome, beautiful Banks projected an exceptionally charming screen presence that drew comparisons to Audrey Hepburn, and Hollywood eventually began to take notice, Banks being cast in the lead in such films as Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) and in Oliver Stone's biopic of George W. Bush, W. (2008), as Laura Bush.

In television, Banks was a recurring guest star on Scrubs (2001) as Dr. Kim Briggs, the love interest of Zach Braff's J.D. In 2010 she was cast as Alec Baldwin's love interest in season four of 30 Rock (2006). Originally scheduled to appear in only four episodes, she was brought back as a recurring character for two more seasons, and earned Emmy nominations for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for two consecutive years. Elizabeth has also appeared in such films as Our Idiot Brother (2011), Man on a Ledge (2012), What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012), People Like Us (2012), and Pitch Perfect (2012). She also won the coveted role as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games (2012) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).

After an eleven-year courtship, Banks married Max Handelman, a sports writer and producer, in 2003. They have two sons, Felix, who was born in March 2011, and Magnus, born in Nov. 2012, both by gestational surrogacy.

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Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen in The Miniature Wife (2025)

Amanda Peet and Elizabeth Banks in Amanda Peet & Elizabeth Banks (2025)

Jessica Biel and Elizabeth Banks in The Better Sister (2025)

Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks, and Michael Harney in The Better Sister (2025)

Elizabeth Banks and Zach Galifianakis in The Beanie Bubble (2023)

Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games (2012)

Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

Morgan Freeman, Anthony Daniels, Liam Neeson, Billy Dee Williams, Will Ferrell, Chris McKay, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Alderson, Kristen Ariza, David Burrows, Charlie Day, Walt Dohrn, Will Forte, Danny Mann, Christopher Miller, Mike Mitchell, Shaquille O'Neal, Nick Offerman, Chris Pratt, Chris Smith, Peter Sohn, Matthew Terry, Cobie Smulders, Keegan-Michael Key, Channing Tatum, Alison Brie, Keith Ferguson, Jorma Taccone, Jonah Hill, Craig Berry, Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, Kelly Lafferty, Chris Romano, Doug Nicholas, Todd Hansen, Jadon Sand, Melissa Sturm, Chris Paluszek, Leiki Veskimets, Amanda Farinos, Graham Miller, and Kristen Phaneuf in The Lego Movie (2014)

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Elizabeth Banks(II)

Elizabeth Banks(II)

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