Today's director for our Female Filmmakers series is interesting because she has often been ranked as one of the sexiest women in the world. This director has had a long career in front of the camera and she has made us all drool, but now she has pivoted to filmmaking - and she's good at it. Let's celebrate Elizabeth Banks and her filmography.
Elizabeth began her career as an actress. The New Englander went to the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated as a sexy sorority girl with top honors. She took her studies further two years later to study at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco to finesse her acting chops. Then she went back across the country to try to work in New York theater (and star in Wet Hot American Summer) and then she went back to California to make it in Los Angeles.
That's a lot of movement! Even though she did nail a few roles onscreen and in theater in New York, this blonde bombshell was always more of a California girl at heart. I say that because she basically found instant success in Hollywood, so it had to be true. Her breakout role came in 2002 when she played Betty Brant in Spider-Man.
Banks herself has filmed several sexy scenes. The hot blonde actress exudes charm onscreen, so she is hot even when she is being funny like when she starred in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. She bends over in her bra and even shows a nip!
She started directing short films in 2010 and 2011 and then she directed the "Middleschool Date" segment in Movie 43 in 2013. Movie 43 is filled with wild, sexy scenes and some of them have real nudity while others have prosthetics. There is a lot to choose from in this raunchy film! Banks finally felt like she had arrived as a director and that she may be ready for more.
She took on more in 2015 when she directed Pitch Perfect 2, taking ownership of the shockingly popular acapella choir comedy. As a lover of comedy, it is no surprise that Banks has directed mostly comedies. She loves them! She showed off how good she is at directing comedy and strong actresses with this wonderful feature debut.
In 2019, she directed the reboot of Charlie's Angels. With sexy stars like Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska, Elizabeth took on a lot with this movie. She co-wrote the script AND she played Boz (aka Bosley). She may have bitten off more than she can chew because the movie did not do well in the theaters. However, Elizabeth proved that she has style when it comes to filmmaking. She cast sexy, tough women and she knew how to showcase their talents...and their assets.
She has amazing things lined up for us like the film Cocaine Bear which is about, well, a bear that ate a lot of cocaine. Seriously. It is based on a true story about a drug runner who crashes his plane and the large amounts of cocaine stashed on the plane get discovered by the hungry black bear. What else will we see in this movie? I don't know, but it stars Keri Russell and Banks is at the helms. I am going to trust it!
Elizabeth Banks has proven that she is a filmmaker that we can indeed trust. And with a face like hers, how couldn't we?
