Elizabeth Banks: 'I Don't Think I Will Win Emmy'

Elizabeth Banks is having a banner year. The 37-year old actress and her husband welcomed a son via surrogate this spring, she landed a plum role in the industry’s most-anticipated new franchise, The Hunger Games, and she can now add “Emmy-nominated” to her list of personal adjectives. Oh, and she is starring in a new movie (the neurotic comedy Our Idiot Brother, in theaters now) with longtime pal and frequent co-star Paul Rudd.
Banks, whose beauty is coupled with a heavy dose of Ivy League brains, spoke to PARADE about her Emmy dress, why she is just like Effie Trinket, and the new man in her life.
You wear a brown wig in the film. Who has more fun?
“Blondes. No one notices me if I’m a brunette, but they do take you more seriously and let you play doctors and lawyers. It's totally scientific that the eye is drawn to light so when I walk around as a blonde, I just get noticed more than I do as a brunette. I find it really fascinating.”
Was there ever a discussion of changing the rest of the cast to blondes instead?
“No, it definitely came down to me as a brunette and frankly, I really wanted that haircut for her. I wanted Miranda to have the Anna Wintour-magazine-Type A haircut.”
You and your 30 Rock co-star Tina Fey are nominated for the same Emmy category. Have you joked about being head-to-head?
“No, I forgot about that actually. I can't win my category. [My character Avery Jessup] has great lines and she truly is an amazing character so I'm very grateful, but I don't think I can win.”
So you will be relaxed on Emmy night then?
“Completely relaxed. I honestly am really excited and really grateful to put ‘Emmy-nominated’ in my bio. If I can win someday, that would be great, but I don’t think it will be this time out. I love this character and I don't know if I'll ever get a better character. Maybe I'll never get a better chance but we'll see.”
What is your Emmy dress like?
“Elegant. And it's something I have never worn before. It’s a style that I have not worn very often.”
How is new motherhood?
“I underestimated the amount of joy it brings. I am learning all about my capacity for joy. I’d love a bigger family, but I don’t want to say I’m not completely satisfied with my perfect one. The journey to my one was very long so I don't know. Maybe we'll do two.”
Were you always a Hunger Games fan?
“I was one of the first readers of the book. I produce movies and I was looking at a similar book when the publisher recommended I read The Hunger Games. I loved it, devoured it, and then devoured Catching Fire. Then I had to wait a year for Mockingjay, which I pre-ordered from Amazon. I was really invested in the books from the get-go and had worked for Gary Ross before. So when he got the job I just emailed everybody and was like, 'I really want to play Effie Trinket. Just know that I am out here and if you need someone, I can step in.”
Why Effie?
“There is no one else for me to play! And also, she's so suited to me. She's funny, she's a little comic relief, she's a little kooky, she's a little dark. All those things really attracted me to her. She represents the Capitol. She understands the stakes of the game but she also understands the stakes for her. She's one of the few glimpses of the totalitarian regime. She's living the high life in the Capitol.”
Is the movie going to be very loyal to the books?
“I think the fans will be extremely happy, that's all I can say. There is definitely pressure to deliver but I feel so good because we're making a movie that is super-entertaining but thought-provoking and that's what actors live for. It's great.”


Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2011/aug/26/elizabeth-banks-i-dont-think-i-will-win-emmy/?partner=yahoo_feeds#ixzz1WEsUiaTy