Who is Elizabeth Banks?

Elizabeth Banks may not be a name that you're familiar with yet, but she will be soon. The public first set their sights on Banks in her small role as a nymphomaniac in The 40-Year-Old Virgin in 2005 but even then, she had been in the business for awhile, flying under the radar.

Steve Carell and Elizabeth Banks in a scene from The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)

Photo source

 
In 2002 she garned the role of Betty Brant in the first Spiderman films, played opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can and fell in love with Ryan Reynolds in the 2008 flick Definitely, Maybe.

Comedy seems to be Banks strong suit, working closely with funny-man and Long Island native, Judd Appatow. Banks played the role of the low-self-esteem girl who runs out of money and decides to make a porno with her best friend played by Seth Rogen (The Green Hornet) in Zack and Mimi Make a Porno. In Role-Models she plays the hard-ass girlfriend of another Apatow favorite, Paul Rudd. She has even garnered herself guest roles in award-winning comedy shows such as ABC's Modern Family and 30 Rock.

In 2009, Banks took on the darker role as Rachel, an alleged serial killing nurse in The Uninvited which grossed a respective $29 million at the box office. Drama's seem to be Bank's new fortay as her latest film, The Next Three Days, which debuts in theaters on November 19^th. The film focuses on a husband who tries to break his wife out of jail after she has been convicted of murder. Banks newest film that is currently in pre-production, Man on A Ledge portrays her as a female police psychologist who attempts to talk a man down from committing suicide in an attempt to cover up a diamond heist.

Elizabeth Banks and Emily Browning in a scene from The Uninvited (2009)

Photo source

But for those who love Bank's comedy chops, she is set to sign on to at untitled comedy film that stars "A-listers" such as: Gerard Butler, Kate Winslet, Anna Faris, Hugh Jackman and Richard Gere. The film which is going to be released in late-2010, is comprised of short-comedy segments.