"You Can Bank on it!"

Elizabeth Banks was most well-known for her roles in films like Zack and Miri Make a Porno, W., and Role Models, before scoring her biggest role to date as the theatrical Effie Trinket in the film adaptations of The Hunger Games novel trilogy. Now, the 38 year-old switches gears to drama with People Like Us.

Banks plays Frankie, an alcoholic with a troubled son, who gets paid a visit from the brother she has never met, played by Chris Pine. She was asked if she felt audiences will identify with the film’s characters, which were loosely based on a real-life situation by its director Alex Kurtzman.

“Oh, yeah,” Elizabeth replies, “Well, we all have daddies, like, because that’s just reality. And to me, part of the thing about this movie is like, we all want to know that our daddy loved us at the end of the day. I’d like to know that my daddy loved me.”

“And, at the end of this movie, we get an answer and I love that, I mean, I loved the journey,” she continues, “I think it’s a very surprising ending, um, and I think it’s why it’s so cathartic for people who see the movie. Um, because it’s very, very relatable, I think. We all have that insecurity.”

Elizabeth talks about what she feels People Like Us says about family.

“I like to say about this movie, we don’t get to choose our family,” she believes, “But we do get to choose to love our family and to like our family and to have forgiveness and grace with our family. And you know, that’s the place where I feel like Sam and Lillian get to, in this film. I have a son, and I just remember a certain point, just like, forgiving my parents for all the damage and just being like, “All right. Let’s move on.”

“Our past does not determine our future,” Banks adds, “There is a way to

"You Can Bank on it!"

just go forward with like, you know, grace, and positivity. Why dwell on it all? I don’t know. I feel really grateful that I got to that place, and that’s all I hope for, for my son. I hope that my son just knows, someday, that I did the best I could.”

Banks talks about how she feels doing this film versus doing a big franchise like The Hunger Games.

“To me, I don’t do this job for myself,” Elizabeth says, “I do it to connect with people, and when you’re in a big franchise, you connect with a lot of people, and that’s really great. It’s a great feeling, and hopefully, it means that more people see the work, and it’s why they let the two of us make movies like this. Because they think people will come and see it.”

Elizabeth talks about what she has gained from being part of the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Hunger Games film thus far.

“I got to the meet the President,” she replies, “Does that count? What does? I don’t know what that means, it’s also about young people. I really love that so many young people loved The Hunger Games. I mean, I loved The Hunger Games when I read it, and fell in love with it,” she continues, “To have so many young people embrace a character, as well as the whole movie. It’s 100% why we do it.”

It’s great,” Banks continues, “I mean, I don’t really know how else to say, it’s why I do it. I do it to impact people’s lives. I’ve had a very few moments where I’ve really gotten to hear from someone how her daughter has terminal cancer, and she was having a really bad day, and we put on one of your comedies, and this scene came on, and she laughed and it made her life easier. That’s the whole reason I do the job.”

Banks

"You Can Bank on it!"

talks about recently making the cover of the July issue of Vanity Fair dressed up as Marilyn Monroe.

“It’s very Norma Jean,” Elizabeth says, with a laugh, “I mean, they’re iconic photographs. I never thought I would we — I would get to — you know, it’s just about an essence, just a sort of playfulness, mixed with vulnerability. I think every actress wants that mix, the mix that Marilyn Monroe had. I mean, it’s why she’s so magical, and why she’s lasted as long as she has.

Elizabeth was asked if she felt pressure about doing the next film in The Hunger Games series, Catching Fire, which is set to come out November 22 of next year.

“We are cogs in a very large wheel,” Banks says of doing the franchise, “There’s a lot of pressure on a lot of people. The pressure is shared by tons and tons of people, so I certainly don’t take The Hunger Games on my shoulders.”

Until then, Banks produces her second film with the comedy musical Pitch Perfect, which is set for release October 5. She was asked whether she finds the producer role comfortable for her.

“It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life, producing,” Elizabeth says, “We’ll see. We hope audiences like it. I hope you like the trailer.”