Elizabeth Banks always wanted to be Julia Roberts.
The ‘Power Rangers’ actress joked her "timing was terrible" when it came to launching her movie career, as at a time when she wanted to make romantic comedies, studios were taking a different approach to the light-hearted films they wanted to produce, leading her down a different path.
She said: "I actually wanted to be Julia Roberts, and then they stopped making romantic comedies. My timing was terrible.
"I came into this business and everyone was like, ‘We’re gonna make bromances now!’ and then every movie suddenly stars Jason Segel and Paul Rudd.
"But then we had the whole rise of some really interesting non-traditional women in comedy, women like Melissa McCarthy and Amy Schumer, and I’m so happy for all of that.
"And I have a lovely life. I’m not complaining. But I do feel like all planning goes out the window.
"Actually, I think that’s probably why I produce and direct, because I really felt like the opportunities for me – especially compared to my male peers – were so limited and uninteresting."
When it came to deciding to pursue a career in movies, Elizabeth was hugely inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s modern take on ‘Romeo + Juliet’.
She explained to Total Film magazine: "The movie that made me really throw myself into acting was Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Romeo + Juliet’. Claire Danes and Leo DiCaprio. I’d never really felt jealous of anyone until I saw that movie. I’m not by nature a jealous person. I think envy is ugly.
"But it was like, wow, I want to be that. I want to do Shakespeare and make it modern and cool and have the music and go through all that. I just loved it.
"I was a big theatre nerd at the time, I went to drama school and I was all wrapped up in stage work and wanting to do Tennessee Williams – but I watched that movie and I realised what the power of film was."
Elizabeth Banks wanted rom-com career
