IN CONVERSATION
Elizabeth Banks Laid Down Her Life For a Cabbage Patch Kid
Director of Cocaine Bear and star of new film The Beanie Bubble talks toy fads, Hollywood strikes, and what she learned from Charlie’s Angels
“I think it’s cyclical,” offers Elizabeth Banks. “Everything has its moment, goes away, and comes back.”
The wildly prolific actress, who’s appeared in everything from Wet Hot American Summer and the original Spider-Man films to The 40-Year-Old Virgin and The Hunger Games franchise, is talking about the YA craze she found herself smack in the middle of about a decade ago, when horny tween vampires and a bow-wielding female revolutionary dominated the zeitgeist.
Toy fads don’t seem so cyclical. Their appeal is as mercurial as the children who covet them. As a child of the ‘90s, I can only faintly recall just how many toy fads my younger sister fell victim to. Tickle Me Elmo. Troll dolls. Tamagotchi. Furby. Spice Girls dolls. You name it, she had to have it. Otherwise, there would be hell to pay. But the one plaything she had the most of were Beanie Babies. Her bedroom was littered with miniature animals stuffed with plastic pellets, with cutesy names like Lovie the Lamb and Lefty the Donkey.
The Beanie Bubble, a new film out July 28 on Apple TV+, is a gonzo satire on the Beanie Babies phenomenon — the brainchild of Ty Warner (played by Zach Galifianakis), an eccentric businessman with a penchant for facelifts; and the three women in his life: Faith McGowan and Patricia Roche (girlfriends of Warner’s involved in the Beanie biz) and Lina Trivedi, a twenty-something who had the genius idea of advertising the dolls online, creating the first business-to-consumer site in the mid-‘90s. Elizabeth Banks plays a fictionalized version of Roche who, according to the film, helped architect the Beanie Babies only to later be left out to dry.
Banks is not only an actress, of course. She’s a studio director who’s helmed Pitch Perfect 2, Charlie’s Angels, and the recent box-office hit Cocaine Bear. She also runs Brownstone Productions, a production company that’s produced the Pitch Perfect trilogy, Hulu’s Shrill, and the upcoming teen-comedy Bottoms, out on August 25.
The actress/filmmaker spoke with Rolling Stone in early July, prior to the actors’ strike, about the Hollywood strikes, her directing journey, and toy fads.
I saw on Instagram that you got a pretty gnarly archery bruise. What happened?
I’ve never done archery! [Laughs] We dropped our kids at camp and are kind of on an adult holiday with no kids for four weeks. It’s a dream come true. So, we went to this place where you could try a bunch of things — we were also getting massages — but we tried archery, kayaking, and hatchet-throwing, all of which, it turns out, are exhausting. Archery was awesome and I had a great time doing it, and I only hit myself with the bowstring four times, and I have this ginormous bruise. I was worried I was going to hurt myself and then I did hurt myself. Maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. But it’s been a fun story to tell at parties the last couple of nights.
There’s some Hunger Games-irony to this injury.
I definitely felt like Katniss. Also, I have to say: It made me very impressed with Jennifer Lawrence’s skills with the bow and arrow. Loading the arrow is this whole thing and took me a second. I definitely couldn’t do it fast like she did.
Speaking of The Hunger Games, what was it like to be caught up in all that? It seems like the YA phenomenon has come and gone.
A big part of it was the perfect pairing of Katniss and Jennifer Lawrence — the rise of Jen at the same moment in time. It was wild to watch. I remember being in Paris and we were all standing on stage introducing the film, and the entire audience was going, “Hen-i-fer, Hen-i-fer!” And I turned to her and I said, “What are they saying?” And she said, “They’re saying Jennifer.” It was like watching a supernova happening.
They share a fact in The Beanie Bubble that stuck with me: At one point, fifty percent of the population in America had a Beanie Baby. That’s insane.
It’s insane to think that it crossed over into older men collecting them. It’s a little child’s toy that’s supposed to bring joy, but once it became a commodity, there were 26-year-old guys trading them on eBay. It was a status symbol for kids — a faddish symbol. You didn’t want to be the kid without a Beanie Baby. And kids care a lot about not being a “loser.”
The Beanie Bubble is also coming out around the Barbie movie. Do you think there’s some cultural connective tissue there?
Everyone wanted to have a Barbie. Barbie’s one of the all-time bestselling toys, and I’m really excited for that movie. By connective tissue, maybe that the idea of doing the toy movies were floating around Hollywood at the same time. And Tetris came out, too. There’s something in the zeitgeist. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia, too. The people making these things are of the age where they’re looking back on what was formative for them, and why. Looking backward to think about where we are in this moment is always interesting as an artist.
Did you succumb to any toy fads as a youngster?
I was a little old for this, but I have two younger sisters: I went with my mom around ’84 or ’85 to Kmart during the Cabbage Patch doll craze. You had to have a Cabbage Patch doll. We were there that Friday after Thanksgiving — before it was called Black Friday — because the new shipment was coming into the Kmart. We got up early, it was freezing cold — I’m from Western Massachusetts — and we got in this line at 5 a.m. My mom brought me because you could only get two per person, so we could get four. We got into the store and I remember it was this full-on mad dash. People were throwing elbows to get to these dolls. We went to the toy section and they weren’t there — they were being handed out in this other section of the store, straight from the pallets, by this employee who was just throwing them down to us. You didn’t even get to choose which one you got. We got four random Cabbage Patch dolls that we got to bring home for Christmas for my sisters.
We broke the news about this the other day, but you put your name to a SAG letter that a lot of Hollywood A-listers signed threatening to go on strike. What compelled you to do that? It does seem like we’re at a very sea change-y time right now, and various players in the industry haven’t been compensated fairly for a while when it comes to things like streaming.
I’m a union kid. My dad was in a union. He worked for General Electric and his being in a union for sure helped us as a family growing up. He could be pink-slipped but still have rights. I’m all for unions. We are at a very critical and fascinating time in the entertainment business. With streaming, everything is happening exponentially fast. With AI, people like to say, “Well, let’s just put some parameters on it and in three years we’ll see where we’re at.” But we only have right now to negotiate the best possible deal. Nobody knows what’s going to be happening in three years. The idea that we should put off any kind of conversation or put off the equity that we’re looking for seems silly to me. We have to deal with it sooner rather than later. And I wanted to show solidarity with everyone. With the writers and everyone. I don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors, and I wanted to show support to the negotiating committee.
There’s been an alarming lack of transparency when it comes to streaming for a while. You guys don’t even get the streaming numbers for your own shows. So, when it comes to residuals, they’re basically just… making up a number? You’re really in the dark.
The lack of transparency is really hard. It’s hard to know how anything is valued right now, you know? I can tell you what I value: my time. When I put my time into something I’m passionate about and create value for someone, I want to be compensated for that.
You’re also in the DGA as a director. Were you satisfied with the DGA agreement?
You know, I always think there’s more to be done. I’m not critical of any of that because I’m not involved in it. I can only imagine how difficult those conversations were, and I think we made really good strides — particularly for the AD [assistant director] department. I’m happy they got more equity in the whole process.
I enjoyed your film Cocaine Bear. One of the film’s producers, Phil Lord, floated the sequel idea of: Cocaine Bear vs. Cocaine Shark.
[Laughs] Did he tweet that? I mean, I had an absolutely great time working on the project. I loved how subversive, crazy, silly, and funny it was. I loved surprising people with the cast. I don’t think anybody was expecting Margo Martindale, who’s 70 years old, to shoot that kid. We had a lot fun, and if I got the opportunity to surprise the audience and delight myself again, I would take it.
Do people just offer you coke now?
[Laughs] You know… surprisingly not!
Was part of the motivation behind directing Cocaine Bear to send a message to Hollywood that you can’t be put in a box, and that you can direct a big, fun, bloody genre picture?
Yeah, pretty much! It’s also what I’ve done as an actor, too. I’ve been very fortunate to work across a lot of genres and things that appeal to me. Cocaine Bear also came to me during the pandemic. We were all locked away, and I loved the sense of fun inside of it. It was what I wanted to see. And it had this message about mankind’s culpability in nature’s demise. It spoke to me on a lot of levels.
And has Cocaine Bear opened that door? Are you getting more opportunities to direct bigger genre pictures?
Currently nothing’s really happening, as we’re all on hold! So, it’s yet to bear out. I do not have a next directing project. I am uncommitted at this time.
I read that you wanted to direct Thor: Ragnarok, and you had a pitch for Marvel, but they wouldn’t get back to you. Have you had any further talks with Marvel or DC about directing a superhero movie?
Let me dispel that a little bit. In terms of characters that I love in Marvel, that’s the character that I would have loved to take on. I never had a pitch or a meeting about Thor. And, yeah, if it was the right character and a great idea, I would love to direct a superhero movie. My door’s really open to anything.
What did you learn from the Charlie’s Angels experience? That was your sophomore picture, and the reception was mixed.
For me, regardless of what the actual product was, so much of the story that the media wanted to tell about Charlie’s Angels was that it was some feminist manifesto. People kept saying, “You’re the first female director of Charlie’s Angels!” And I was like, “They’ve only done a TV show and McG’s movies… what are you talking about? There’s not this long legacy.” I just loved the franchise. There was not this gendered agenda from me. That was very much laid on top of the work, and it was a little bit of a bummer. It felt like it pigeonholed me and the audience for the movie. To lose control of the narrative like that was a real bummer. You realize how the media can frame something regardless of how you’ve framed it. I happen to be a woman who directed a Charlie’s Angels movie that happened to star three incredible women. You can’t control the media saying, “You’re a lady director, and that’s special!” — which it is, but it’s not the only thing.
I remember having a conversation with someone who was like, “You guys are going to have a partnership with Drybar” — which is, like, a hair-blowing thing — and I was like, “Alright… but could we have an ad during the baseball playoffs? It’s not only this one thing.” It was interesting to see how the industry sees things that star women. It was a real lesson for me.
I went to Colby College, and it’s in Waterville, Maine. Wet Hot American Summer was a very beloved movie there, because there’s a scene in the film where the gang goes into Waterville and things go very south, and they end up shooting up in this seedy drug den. But I’m curious: Why do you think you and Paul Rudd have such great chemistry?
We make each other laugh. We actually don’t have the exact same sense of humor, which is a good thing. He laughs at my jokes and I really appreciate that about him!
I’m a massive Law & Order: SVU fan. And you starred in an incredible episode early on in your career. I believe you and Zack Morris — Mark-Paul Gosselaar — are a porn-star couple who’s doing it to pay for your daughter’s cystic fibrosis medical bills. And the big twist is that you’re the one who’s shot this big-shot porn producer. Do you ever think about how far you’ve come since those early days?
I mean, that was a blast! If you were an actor in New York City back then, or even right now, and you don’t get cast on a version of Law & Order, you’re probably not going to make it in the business. It’s such a rite of passage. For me, it was this huge confidence boost. I was like, “I’m on the right path! I have a SAG job. I’m getting paid.” I remember traveling to the studio in New Jersey on the ferry with other crew members and being like, “Yeah, we’re going to work.” I remember auditioning for a few other roles on Law & Order and not getting them. When I got this one, I was so freaking excited. One of my favorite bits from that, and I’m not sure it made it into the episode, was that my character wanted to go to Las Vegas to do a gangbang to get on The Howard Stern Show to get more famous. Like, that was her literal goal. [Laughs]
Wow. That’s so ‘90s/early-2000s.
Very early-2000s. And I was an avid listener of The Howard Stern Show, and I thought, “Yeah, that’s very relatable. That is something Howard Stern does. He’s handpicking these porn stars, they get the recognition from Howard, and then you could really make money.” I loved playing it. It was so fun.
You mentioned Howard Stern in Vegas, and it was wild back then. I mean, he was throwing salami slices on women’s butts in Vegas.
Yeah. The feminist inside me has to constantly negotiate with my love for Howard.
I’m curious what your thoughts are about starring as Laura Bush in the movie W., and if you have any regrets over appearing in that? Do you feel it went too easy on George W. Bush and turned him into a punchline?
I have… not thought about that in a very long time. [Laughs] So, I don’t think about that. But no, I got to work with Oliver Stone. He’s one of the all-time greatest writers and directors in American cinema. And he’s always there to satirize and push the buttons. I loved working with Josh [Brolin] as well. A conversation I had with one of my mentors was what pushed me into producing and directing — and it was with Diane Lane, who I met making that movie with Josh, since they were together at the time.
You produced Bottoms, which went over like gangbusters at SXSW. And you have a bunch more projects that you’re producing. What is your broader mission in terms of shepherding projects?
So, I’m in the director’s guild, and I work on the first-time feature awards committee. I got to see Shiva Baby pretty early on — Emma Seligman’s first movie that stars Rachel Sennott. I loved it. I remember saying to my film exec, “Where is this woman going? What is she going to do next?” And then they came in with a pitch, and the logline was: “These queer girls in high school start a fight club in order to fuck the cheerleaders.” And I was like, “Let’s do it. That’s so fun.” I wanted to be able to support Emma and Rachel in their sophomore feature and do something that’s really in their voice. And then Ayo [Edebiri] came onboard, who’s so great. The entire cast is so fun. I wanted to support their POV.
I’m half-Jewish, and I’m curious what it was like for you to convert to Judaism? What was the process like, and did you feel like a different person after?
I’m going to be honest with you: I never had a mikvah, so I’m not technically converted. This is a much longer conversation that’s partly about how I feel about growing up Catholic, and how I feel about how organized religion is used as a tool for families. I knew we wanted some sense of ritual in our family life. I love shabbat and taking that time on a Friday night to be with your family. But I might also be an atheist. I’m not sure! I’m still learning, you know.
Speaking of — I enjoyed you on Curb Your Enthusiasm. You and Larry had fun, chaotic chemistry. How did that happen, and what was your time like making that?
I’d been approached a couple of times and the timing didn’t work out, and finally it did. That’s also sort of a rite of passage. If you are considered a funny person, you want to be on Curb, because it’s a gold standard. It’s everything everyone tells you: There’s no script, it’s scene outlines, and then everyone gets there and does improv. We had a great time. I think I was at a Vanity Fair Oscar party and met Larry and his producer Jeff [Schaffer]. I made them laugh and then I was like, I’m walking away. Because if you can make Larry David laugh, it’s pretty delightful.