Name: Elizabeth Anne Caplan
Birthdate: June 30, 1982
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Claim to fame: Her first big film role was playing Janice Ian in 2004’s Mean Girls.
What we can see her in next: She plays Agent Lacey in Seth Rogen’s highly controversial movie, The Interview, which has a limited theatre release on Christmas Day.
Interesting Fact: Her role in The Interview acted as a reunion for her, Seth Rogen, and James Franco. One of her first acting jobs was back in 1999 when she appeared in four episodes of the critically acclaimed television series from Judd Apatow, Freaks and Geeks, which also starred Seth Rogen and James Franco.
Best Quote: “I have sex with a lot of people on that show. I have to say if I had a problem with it, what right would I have signing up for it?” — on being comfortable doing a lot of sex scenes for her role on the Showtime series ‘Masters of Sex’.
Why We Love Her: Remember the crazy girl Lindsay Lohan befriended in Mean Girls? Well the character’s name was Janice Ian, and the actress that played her is our WCW today, Lizzy Caplan. That was her first major film role. She’s certainly come a long way since. There’s the recent Emmy nomination for her work on the Showtime series Masters of Sex, as well as a multitude of film roles, most recently, her role in Seth Rogen’s highly controversial film, The Interview, which releases in select theatres on Christmas Day.
Lizzy Caplan is one of those actresses too attractive to be the “funny friend” (she almost lost out on the part in Mean Girls because producers thought she was too beautiful for the role), but also too funny and quirky to be your typical female lead. This is also likely why she seems to have been teetering through what-was-expected-to-be breakthrough-role-after-breakthrough-role ever since Mean Girls — the industry hadn’t been able to figure out where to put her. But now there’s no denying she’s arrived and found her place in a big way. That’s probably her whole appeal — she’s attractive but not in a way that will blow you away, she’s attractive in a very normal way, which is what allows the audience to connect with the characters she plays that much more.
While she’s begun to make a name for herself as a great comedic actress, with roles in movies such as Mean Girls, My Best Friend’s Girl, Hot Tub Time Machine, Save the Date, and Bachelorette, as well as multiple stints on comedy series, such as playing a struggling comedian for two seasons on Party Down. Her lead role in the Showtime drama series, Masters of Sex, has allowed her to show off her dramatic range. As well as make it very apparent to her audience she has no hang ups getting down with the dirty stuff on camera — the series explores the research and relationship between Dr. William Masters (played by Micheal Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (played by Caplan), two pioneering researchers of human sexuality at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. This past year she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, but unfortunately lost out to Robin Wright. Now that’s quite the diverse resume for an actress that’s only really picking up steam now.
Lizzy Caplan is our WCW this week because she’s funny and awesome. You can catch her in her latest movie, The Interview, to see why.
