Lizzy Caplan Biography

LIZZY CAPLAN

Date of Birth: June 30, 1982

Lizzy Caplan is an American actress who rose to fame with a co-starring role in the 2004 modern classic Mean Girls, and has maintained a solid profile since through her work in various movies and television shows, including her current role on Showtime's period drama Masters of Sex.

Lizzy was born and raised in the Miracle Mile district of Los Angeles, California. She grew up as the daughter of two working professionals — her father as a lawyer and her mother as a political aide. However, her mother died when she was just 13 years old. Lizzy attended Alexander Hamilton High School in L.A., and followed her older sister into the school's Academy of Music. There she studied piano, but soon discovered she was a piano student who "never wanted to be a professional pianist." When she quit piano, she decided on a whim to study drama instead because she "could fake it better than anything else."

Her impulse decision to become an actress has led her to many high profile roles throughout her over a decade-long career, the first of which was as Sara in the critically acclaimed series Freaks and Geeks, a role she earned before she even graduated high school. When Lizzy graduated in 2000, she opted out of college because she wanted to focus her attention on acting.

Following her big break on the short-lived cult series, the young actress appeared in a handful of other television shows, including Undeclared, Smallville, and Once and Again. In 2002, Lizzy earned her first feature film role in the comedy Orange County (2002). Less than two years later, Lizzy then got the role of her career as semi-mean girl/outsider Janis Ian in the teen comedy classic Mean Girls(2004).

For the next five or so years thereafter, Lizzy earned consistent work; however, she found it difficult to replicate the massive success she found on Mean Girls. During this time, she appeared in a series of TV shows, such as Tru Calling, Related, The Class, and most notably as Amy Burley in True Blood. She also earned roles in various movies, like Cloverfield (2008), for which she earned a Saturn Award nomination, My Best Friend's Girl (2008), Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), the Oscar nominated 127 Hours (2010), and the indie girl comedies Save the Date (2012) and Bachelorette (2012).

In 2013, the actress found high profile success again with the most critically praised role of her career — sex specialist Virginia Johnson on the Showtime period drama Masters of Sex. She has starred in three seasons of the award-winning series, and has earned Critic's Choice, Emmy and Satellite Award nominations for her fearless work.

Lizzy recently starred in 2015's controversial comedy The Interview and the romantic comedy The Night Before(2015). She took on a role as Lula in the 2016 sequel Now You See Me 2, and stars as Bridget in the 2016 romantic thriller Allied alongside heavy hitters Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

Lizzy was previously in a relationship with actor Matthew Perry from 2006 until 2012. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Filmography:

Allied (2016)
Now You See Me 2 (2016)
The Night Before (2015)
The Interview (2014)
Queens of Country (2012)
3,2,1...Frankie Go Boom (2012)
Bachelorette (2012)
Save the Date (2012)
High Road (2011)
127 Hours (2010)
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Crossing Over (2009)
My Best Friend's Girl (2008)
Cloverfield (2008)
Crashing (2007)
Love Is the Drug (2006)
Mean Girls (2004)
Orange County (2003)