Elizabeth Banks is in Cannes as a new ambassador for L’Oreal. I caught up with the actress on the 7th-floor terrace of the Martinez Hotel on Wednesday. This is Banks’ first time in Cannes and she was clearly enjoying it, although she was a bit nervous about the walk up the red carpet.
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Banks doesn’t have a film in Cannes but has plenty of projects gearing up. She said she’d just heard from The Details director Jacob Estes on Wednesday, who was scouting locations in Seattle. The movie, with Banks, James McAvoy, Anna Friel and Laura Linney, starts shooting in three weeks.
The busy actress is also becoming a serious producer. She executive produced Jonathan Mostow’s Surrogates, which stars Bruce Willis and comes out in September. She’s also in development at DreamWorks on the workplace comedy Forever 21, which she’ll star in and produce.
Juggling such a full slate isn’t a problem for Banks, who says, “I am a total Type A personality. I like being busy.”
When Banks isn’t busy acting or producing, she might be found blogging. Recently, she created something of an Internet scandal when she wrote a blog for The Huffington Post that called out Zac Efron-starrer 17 Again for glamorizing teen pregnancy.
When I asked her if she knew the post would result in such a firestorm, she rather devilishly said, “I sort of meant to.” Basically, she explained, “Some people saw it as an ode to Zac, some people saw it as a rant against teenage pregnancy. It was both.”
Still, Banks says she doesn’t read her own press and if she does she’s “not affected by it.” Asked about the biggest misconception people may have of her, she said she’s had to fight the “dumb blonde” stereotype and that in general she finds herself “fighting for legitimacy.” Not as a woman, she explained, but more so as an actress who’s now producing.
People’s first reaction, she said, goes something like, “What? The girl from the bathtub in 40-Year-Old Virgin is producing a Bruce Willis movie? Yeah, right!"
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