Elizabeth Banks Talks Finally Playing Lead Roles After Years Of Playing “Comic Relief”

After 25 years on the big screen, Elizabeth Banks has long been ready for her closeup.

The 3x Emmy nominee recently reflected on the “second life” her onscreen career and how she’s gone from the “comic relief” to leading lady in her new medical drama A Mistake, which debuted in US theaters last month.

“It’s really only been in my second life as an actress here that I’ve started playing the lead role,” she explained to People. “It’s because I was a great ingénue for a long time. I played the lady in many movies to some great leading men. And then I had smaller roles in huge movies like The Hunger Games and Pitch Perfect, but never quite that DC or Marvel movie lead.”

Banks noted, “I’m often given more comic relief parts. So to have this offer felt like, wow, I’m going to be in every scene of this film, playing a character that’s very good at their job, it’s all very serious.”

Based on the 2019 novel by Carl Shuker, A Mistake delves into the perilous aftermath of a split-second medical decision from surgeon Beth Taylor (Banks), unfolding a thrilling exploration of the fatal ripple effects triggered by a single human error.

While promoting her previous starring role in Skincare, Banks opened up to Deadline about the pressure to stay relevant in the industry. “I feel like as someone who’s middle-aged and works in Hollywood, I already feel like I don’t know what the next big thing is gonna be, what the AI thing is gonna be, or that has been now introduced into all of our lexicon,” she said. “I think everyone is worried about staying relevant.”

Banks has previously served supporting performances in Wet Hot American Summer (2001), Spider-Man (2002), Catch Me If You Can (2002), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), Pitch Perfect (2012), Power Rangers (2017) and Charlie’s Angels (2019).