Emmy-nominated actress Elizabeth Reaser was born on June 15, 1975 in Bloomfield, Michigan. Despite working through several odd jobs to sustain her high school education, she aspired to become an actress. She realized her childhood dream when she left Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan after a year, to enroll at the Juilliard School of Drama in New York City; she would eventually graduate with a BFA in Drama in 1999.
Reaser initially struggled to get significant roles, having appeared on theater and at one point, performing for only two audience members. Her big break came when she joined the cast of the daytime drama Guiding Light. She wouldn’t stay long, however; she immediately pursued other opportunities in television and film. After her film debut in 1999, she appeared in releases such as Emmett’s Mark, The Family Stone, Shut Up and Sing, Puccini for Beginners and Purple Violets. Her work in the 2006 independent release Sweet Land earned her an Independent Spirit Award nomination the following year, for Best Female Lead.
Reaser’s television performances also haven’t gone unnoticed. After guest roles in The Sopranos, The Jury, Hack and Law & Order: Criminal Intent, she joined the cast of the short-lived medical drama Saved. She played the role of Alice Alden, a physician at the Good Samaritan Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, who previously had a relationship with paramedic Wyatt Cole (Tom Everett Scott) when they entered medical school.
However, it was Reaser’s portrayal of a pregnant woman with amnesia in the drama series Grey’s Anatomy that got the most notice from critics; it eventually earned her an Emmy nomination for Best Drama Guest Actress in 2005. Her most recent regular television role is on the fantasy-comedy series The Ex List; she plays the lead, Bella Bloom, who reassesses her previous relationships after finding out from a psychic that her future husband is among her exes.