Put the odds ever in your favor with a look back at the best Elizabeth Banks movies and TV roles before the final chapter of The Hunger Games!
On Friday, November 20, Elizabeth Banks will appear in the final chapter of The Hunger Games saga, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Banks originated the role of Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games, and she returned for the three subsequent sequels. Banks’ banner 2015, however, has been focused on her starring and directing turn in Pitch Perfect 2, which turned out to be one of the year’s biggest hits. Over the course of her 17-year professional career, there have been more than 50 Elizabeth Banks movies and over and 20 TV series. Banks’ star, meanwhile, continues to rise.
Ahead of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, ComingSoon.net has put together a look back at the ten most memorable Elizabeth Banks movies and television roles. Banks’ success didn’t happen overnight, but it has been building for several years and it’s been well earned.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: Scrubs (2006)
While Banks had small roles on “All My Children,” “Third Watch,” and “Without a Trace,” she had a more important part on “Scrubs” as Dr. Kim Brigg, the former girlfriend of the lead character, J.D. (Zach Braff) and the mother of J.D.’s son.
While Banks’ character only appeared on a recurring basis, she remained in orbit around J.D.’s life for the sake of their child. J.D.’s desire to be closer to his son led him to leave Sacred Heart Hospital at the end of the eighth season… which most “Scrubs” fans consider to be the true ending of the series.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: Slither (2006)
Slither was notably James Gunn’s directorial debut before he went on to helm Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Banks starred in Slither as Starla Grant, a woman whose husband, Grant (Michael Rooker), becomes possessed by alien parasites… which he in turn possesses to keep Stella from leaving him!
“Firefly” and “Castle” star Nathan Fillion also headlined Slither as Bill Pardy, Starla’s love interest. Slither is a little bit goofy, but it’s now regarded as a cult classic sci-fi horror film.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Two years later, Banks headlined Zack and Miri Make a Porno with Seth Rogen as Zack and Banks as Miri. It’s a romantic comedy in which the title pretty much describes the plot. Zack and Miri were platonic roommates who decided to make a porno when they were desperate for money. Things didn’t work out entirely as planned, and certain romantic sparks happened.
This was one of director Kevin Smith’s first films set outside of his View Askewniverse, but Zack and Miri Make a Porno was only a minor success at the box office. However, it put Banks in a leading role, which made it another important step in her journey as a star.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: 30 Rock (2010)
In addition to a busy film schedule, Banks had a recurring role on 30 Rock as Avery Jessup, the girlfriend and later wife of Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). But the show put a hilarious spin on Banks’ character when she was kidnapped to be the bride of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and forced to anchor fake news reports about North Korea’s conquest of the world.
Banks eventually returned to the series to wrap up Avery’s captivity and her marriage to Jack. But her North Korean storyline was definitely one of the funniest subplots of the sixth season of “30 Rock.”
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: The Next Three Days (2010)
The Next Three Days uncharacteristically placed Banks at the center of an action thriller movie. She played Lara Brennan, a woman convicted of killing her boss and facing a life sentence. Russell Crowe portrayed Lara’s husband, John Brennan, a man who decided to break his wife out of prison no matter what it took. John even got advice from Liam Neeson’s Damon Pennington, a former convict with experience in escaping from jail.
While The Next Three Days didn’t set the box office on fire, it did demonstrate that Banks could do more than just comedies.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: The Hunger Games (2012)
All things considered, Banks’ Effie Trinket isn’t a major character in The Hunger Games franchise. In the first movie, Effie is simply there to chaperone Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) on their way to their roles as tributes to the latest Hunger Games. But by the second movie, Effie was more openly affectionate towards Katniss and Peeta when they were forced back into the Hunger Games.
The creative team behind The Hunger Games movies changed Effie’s fate on the big screen. Instead of writing her out for most of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, Effie was recruited (mostly against her will) by the resistance in District 13 to once again chaperone Katniss in her new career as a propaganda weapon against President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and his regime.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: Pitch Perfect (2012)
Elizabeth Banks only had a small role in the first Pitch Perfect as Gail Abernathy-McKadden, a commentator for the International Championship of College A Cappella. But Banks’ most important part was behind-the-scenes as a producer, and she was named as the director of the sequel after Pitch Perfect was an unexpected smash hit.
And in case you were wondering, Pitch Perfect followed Beca Mitchell (Anna Kendrick) and her teammates in an all-female college a cappella group.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Although The LEGO Movie was an animated feature, it was a showcase for Banks who provided the voice of Wyldstyle, the female lead of the film. Wyldstyle was also one of the film’s most memorable new characters and Banks has gone on to reprise her role in the recently released LEGO Dimensions video game.
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (2015)
In 2001, Banks had another small role as Lindsay in Wet Hot American Summer. For the Netflix prequel series, “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp,” Banks reprised her part alongside an all-star cast of returning Wet Hot American Summer castmates including Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, Molly Shannon, Christopher Meloni, Michael Showalter, and several others.
Getting nearly everyone back was an impressive accomplishment. But on top of that, the eight episodes of “Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp” were still funny too. Now that’s impressive!
Elizabeth Banks Movies and TV Spotlight: Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)
Banks reprised her role as Gail Abernathy-McKadden in Pitch Perfect 2, which she also directed. This film was Bank’s full-length theatrical debut as a director, and it went on to set an opening weekend record for a first time director with $69 million, on the way to over $183 million in the U.S. alone.
Consequently, there will be a Pitch Perfect 3 in 2017, and Banks will once again direct it.
