Never Underestimate Elizabeth Banks

When Elizabeth Banks chose her stage name, she opted for something short and punchy. Born and raised as Elizabeth Mitchell in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, she was forced to get creative while seeking her Screen Actors Guild membership in the early days of her acting career. (Lost actress Elizabeth Mitchell had already registered with her given name.) She considered taking her partner Max Handelman’s family name, but the pair had not yet married—and she didn’t want to “jinx it.” Nor did she want to abandon “Elizabeth”; a friend had warned her not to pick anything too unfamiliar or unnatural.

A surname, then, was a safer transformation. She scrawled a list of potential options, each no longer than two syllables; alphabetized them in a column; and called SAG to see what was available. She didn’t get far down the list before SAG confirmed one had not yet been claimed: “Banks.” Elizabeth Banks.

Jacket, bikini, Isabel Marant. Pants, Zimmermann. Sunglasses, Elisa Johnson. Earrings, 8 Other Reasons.

She admired the “brightness” of “Banks,” the sharp crunch of the consonants. She appreciated its proximity to the top of the alphabet, a convenient placement when cast lists were announced. It was fitting, too: Banks’s mother, Ann, used to work in a bank. But what Banks couldn’t, of course, predict at the time was how fitting the moniker would become for a savvy Hollywood actress and entrepreneur. “I think serendipity plays a big role in a lot of people’s lives,” Banks says now, “and that was just a little serendipitous moment: I actually think that ‘Banks’ was the perfect name, and I didn’t totally realize it until it was mine.”

When we speak in April, Banks is coming off of the press run for Peacock’s new TV series The Miniature Wife, in which she stars alongside Succession star Matthew Macfadyen as Lindy Littlejohn—a wife who does, indeed, become miniature. A bestselling author shrunk down to a 6-inch stature thanks to the inadvertent activation of her husband Les’s miniaturization technology, Lindy’s newfound perspective further reveals the imbalances between herself and her husband.

Attracted to the idea of a high-concept comedy like The War of the Roses and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Banks had attached herself to the project before the Writers Guild of America strike in 2023, and eventually went on to film the series in Toronto in 2025. It was a surprisingly challenging endeavor: She and Macfadyen had to shoot their scenes separately, with Banks using a green screen as a scene partner and the production team’s scaled-up set design—and various oversized props—as a playground.

“Doing physical comedy is inherently silly, right?” she says. “It’s inherently vulnerable. You’re failing a lot before you win. You have to be very open to failure. Then doing all of that by myself on a green screen…it just felt so silly on a level that I’ve never really experienced, because I usually have a partner who’s taking on some of the vulnerability.”

Top, Celine. Bracelet, watch, Cartier.

But having that vulnerability thrust upon her forced Banks to think deeply about the power dynamics between Lindy and Les, and between “soft power” and “hard power” more generally. She doesn’t hesitate to draw connections with the political sphere beyond Hollywood: The country is in an era in which “there’s a total lack of appreciation for what soft-power skills bring to the table in terms of leadership and integrity,” she says. “Hard power feels like it should be a last resort.”

Banks, 52, has made a career out of showing just how useful such soft-power skills can be. Charming, outgoing, and a self-proclaimed “optimistic person,” she has woven her way inextricably through the Hollywood ecosystem—as an actress, producer, director, advocate, and entrepreneur—in the years since she made her debut in 1998’s Surrender Dorothy, later gaining traction with 2001’s Wet Hot American Summer, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, and 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin. A bevy of other on-screen roles presented themselves soon after, including memorable runs on Scrubs; Modern Family; and 30 Rock, where she played Avery Jessup, a character whom Banks believes “represents the height of my comedic skills.” Then in 2012, Banks starred in both Pitch Perfect (a project she calls “very close to my heart”) as an a cappella competition commentator and The Hunger Games as the outrageous stylist Effie Trinket—two of her most well-recognized roles to date.

Jacket, Nili Lotan. Vest, shirt, Polo Ralph Lauren. Jeans, Agolde. Earrings, shoes, Tory Burch. Scarves, Hermès. Ring, 8 Other Reasons.

She hadn’t necessarily intended to become an actress as a child. In fact, she thought she would become “a lawyer or something,” Banks says. “I just knew that I wanted a big life, and that I wanted to be able to impact a lot of other people. And I think the young me has figured out how to do that, and I’m really proud of her.” She worked an odd series of jobs growing up in Massachusetts: babysitting; running the front desk and concession stand at a Catholic youth center; catering; cleaning at a bed and breakfast. (The latter was the worst, she says. “Here’s some advice for the readers: Don’t try and flush condoms,” Banks adds.) She waitressed for years, all through college and into her early 20s.

But she enjoyed acting in school plays, and when she attended the University of Pennsylvania, she eventually graduated with a degree in communications and a minor in theater arts. Next, she earned an MFA from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and went on to make her screen debut.

A few years later, she and her now-husband Handelman launched their production company, Brownstone Productions. Going into business together was a “practical” decision. “My husband was graduating business school, and looking at jobs, and we wanted to build a life together,” Banks says. “And we felt like, if he took a 9-to-5 with two weeks vacation while I was traveling all over making films, we wouldn’t be able to share the experience together.”

Sunglasses, Elisa Johnson. Earrings, 8 Other Reasons.

The duo had their work cut out for them. “We knew through my acting work that we had a lot of access in Hollywood, which is a key aspect of producing, and we had really good taste. We weren’t worried about that,” Banks continues. “What we needed to build, as a team, was clout, and the only way to build clout is to actually make things, get things made, or make people money.”

One of the couple’s first producing projects was an adaptation of a graphic novel from a small publisher—“because we were never going to get a Marvel or DC title,” Banks deadpans—called The Surrogates. Brownstone partnered with other producers to eventually make the 2009 film with Disney starring Bruce Willis, which gave Banks and Handelman exactly the “clout” they needed. Not long after, they pursued the adaptation rights for Mickey Rapkin’s book Pitch Perfect: The Quest for Collegiate A Cappella Glory, from which they made the smash-hit Pitch Perfect. A mere three years later, Banks made her directorial debut with 2015’s Brownstone-produced Pitch Perfect 2.

Since then, Banks, Handelman, and Brownstone have made their mark with projects including the 2019 Charlie’s Angels reboot, the Aidy Bryant-led Hulu series Shrill, the 2023 films Cocaine Bear and Bottoms, and 2025’s Prime Video drama The Better Sister. All the while, Banks has maintained a steady presence in front of the camera while juggling myriad other roles: her multiple brand partnerships (with companies such as skin care brand No7, hair care line Virtue Labs, and pharmaceutical company Pfizer, among others); her co-ownership in canned wine business Archer Roose; her investments in businesses such as the American soccer team Boston Legacy FC and the sexual health brand Cadence OTC; her hosting gig with ABC game show Press Your Luck (which Banks calls “my favorite job in Hollywood”); and her advocacy for gun control and women’s health care and reproductive rights.

Top, La DoubleJ. Shorts, Rùadh. Hat, necklace, Zimmermann. Watch, Cartier.

Regarding her advocacy, Banks says that she doesn’t feel “particularly revolutionary” when, for instance, she speaks out against the Trump administration and in favor of abortion access or gun safety. “I do want to acknowledge that it feels more dangerous right now than ever before, because our government’s been weaponized against everyday citizens in a lot of ways that have never happened in my 52 years of life,” she says. But she feels she’s in a uniquely privileged position to speak out, and that “my intention lines up with what is actually not controversial and almost always popular….I’m literally putting voice to what most people believe is a sensible mid-path to make sure that people stay as safe as they can in our society. I’m advocating for people’s safety and their right to exist, and it’s really hard to argue against that.” Some do try, she adds, and those people “call me names, and threaten me, but they can’t argue those points.”

Banks is also a mother to two sons, with whom she wants to spend as much time as possible before they leave home. Prioritizing her presence at home has led her to be very intentional about the projects she takes on, even if she’s not necessarily “slowing down at all,” she says.

“I want to be impactful,” she explains. “And as an artist, I don’t make art in a closet for myself. I am trying to convey something to the audience. I’m trying to speak to the time that I live in. I’m trying to make art that moves people, entertains people, and educates people.”

Jacket, Nili Lotan. Vest, shirt, Polo Ralph Lauren. Jeans, Agolde. Scarves, Hermès. Ring, 8 Other Reasons.

Now that her work on The Miniature Wife has concluded, Banks has a full docket ahead of her: She’s filming the next season of Press Your Luck, and in the coming weeks she’ll shoot an as-yet-unannounced series with Apple TV. Production has yet to begin, but she is “very much working toward” playing Karen Read in the upcoming Prime Video series about the infamous Massachusetts trial (in which the real-life Read was accused of murdering her boyfriend, police officer John O’Keefe, in 2022). Banks is also actively producing and developing other projects, including a film about “sorority rush culture” called Betas. (Banks was herself in the Delta Delta Delta sorority in college, and while she generally has “a positive outlook” on Greek life, she feels “there is a satire to be made about how seriously people take it—because it should not be life or death for anybody.”)

She’s excited to see The Hunger Games: Sunrise in the Reaping later this year, featuring Elle Fanning as a younger version of Banks’s Effie Trinket. “I am so excited for her to make it her own,” Banks says. “I mean, truly. I’m happy if I provided any part of the blueprint for what she’ll end up doing, but Suzanne Collins wrote an incredibly awesome piece of anti-fascist propaganda, and I can’t wait for more of it to be in the world.”

Top, earrings, La DoubleJ. Shorts, Rùadh. Watch, Cartier. Shoes, Tory Burch.

In the meantime, she’s keeping her eye out for projects to develop, produce, and act in. But rapidly changing technology in Hollywood—the rise of streaming, social media, and artificial intelligence among them—has led her to think deeply about what matters, both as an artist and as a businesswoman. “I think it’s important to remember that there have been these periods of big transitions in Hollywood before, and I still believe that people want to be connected through art and entertainment…there’s a reason we still read the Greeks, and why we still go to museums. What we pass on is the human stuff.”

She continues, “I don’t think storytelling goes away. I just think now storytelling is adapting to the way that people consume.”

When I ask if, looking back on the scope of her career, there’s a film or television role she’s most proud of, Banks mentions the Pitch Perfect series—but her greatest source of pride is “that I’m still here,” she says.

“I’ve survived it all so far,” she continues. “And I still get to do something that I love to do, and I still have the opportunity to entertain people. I don’t take that lightly. It’s a great responsibility.”

---

Lead image: Sweater, top, pants, Polo Ralph Lauren. Earrings, 8 Other Reasons. Belt, Artemas Quibble. Shoes, Herbert Levine.

Photography by Daniel Jack Lyons; styling by Christopher Campbell; hair by Holly Mills at The Wall Group; makeup by Fiona Stiles at A-Frame Agency; manicure by Queenie Nguyen at Tomlinson Management Group; produced by Alexey Galetskiy Productions.