Born on February 10, 1974 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Banks is an actress best known for her roles in Catch Me if You Can, Seabiscuit, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and the Spiderman movies. Growing up, Banks was a contestant on a Nickelodeon game show called Finders Keepers. During her youth, she described herself as “goody two-shoes” and was even nominated once as the local Harvest Queen. She graduated from Pittsfield High School in 1992 and finished her degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1997, magna cum laude. She went on to complete schooling at the American Conservatory Theater. She met her husband Max Handleman at the University of Pennsylvania.
She moved to New York to work in theater and there obtained her first small roles. She then moved to Los Angeles and more roles came. In 2004, Banks appeared on the show Stella, as she was friends with its creators and stars. Other than this, she is best known for her recurring roles in the Spider-Man films as Betty Brant, the secretary of newspaper tycoon. She acquired a sort of cult following with the comedy Wet Hot American Summer. She then achieved mainstream popularity with box office hits The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Slither. Moreover, she played the role of Mark Wahlberg’s love interest in a Disney movie called Invincible. In 2007, she bagged the female lead in the comedy Meet Bill, where she starred alongside Aaron Eckhart and Jessica Alba. She also appeared in the movie Fred Clause starring Vince Vaughn.
Banks is also no stranger to television. She appeared in the season five finale of the NBC sitcom Scrubs, and has since then appeared throughout the next few seasons as a recurring character. She has also starred in episodes of Sex and The City, Law and Order: SVU, Without a Trace, Wainy Days, the TV mini-series Comanche Moon.