Elizabeth Reaser

Elizabeth Ann Reaser (born July 2, 1975)^[1][2] is an American film, television, and stage actress. Her work includes the films Stay, The Family Stone, Sweet Land, Against the Current, The Twilight Saga, Young Adult, and Ouija: Origin of Evil, and the TV series Saved, Grey's Anatomy, The Ex-List, The Good Wife, True Detective, The Handmaid's Tale, and The Haunting of Hill House.

Elizabeth Reaser
Reaser in July 2011
Born	Elizabeth Ann Reaser (1975-07-02) July 2, 1975 (age 49) Bloomfield, Michigan, U.S.
Education	Oakland University Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1998–present
Spouse	Bruce Gilbert ​ (m. 2023)​

Early life and education

Reaser was born in the affluent Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. Her parents are Karen Davidson (née Weidman) and John Reaser.^[3] She is the middle of three sisters.^[3] In 1995, her mother married billionaire businessman William Davidson.^[3][4][5]

Reaser attended both the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Bloomfield Hills^[6] and Avondale High School in Auburn Hills^[7] where she graduated in 1993. After high school, she attended Oakland University for one year,^[8] then attended the Juilliard School's Drama Division (1995–1999, Group 28),^[9] where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1999.^[2][8]

Career

Reaser prepared for her role on Saved by spending time in an emergency room, observing the behavior of medical staff.^[10] In October 2004, Interview magazine hailed her as one of the "14 To Be" emerging creative women.^[11] Her work in the film Sweet Land earned the "Jury Award" at the Newport Beach Film Festival and a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award "Best Female Lead" award.^{[citation needed]} Reaser earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring guest appearance throughout 2007 and 2008 on the television series Grey's Anatomy.^{[citation needed]}

Reaser is best known for her portrayal of Esme Cullen in the film Twilight,^[12] and its follow-ups The Twilight Saga: New Moon in 2009, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in 2010,^[13] and parts one (2011) and two (2012) of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.^[14]

Reaser appeared on the CBS' legal drama, The Good Wife in October 2010.^[15]

Reaser appeared in Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale on Hulu.^[16]

Filmography

Film

Reaser at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Believer	Miriam
	Thirteen Conversations About One Thing	Young Woman In Class
2002	Emmett's Mark	Alison Holmes
2004	Mind the Gap	Malissa Zubach
2005	Stay	Athena
	Sweet Land	Young Inge
	The Family Stone	Susannah Stone Trousdale
2006	The Wedding Weekend	Julep
	Puccini for Beginners	Allegra
2007	Purple Violets	Bernadette
2008	Twilight	Esme Cullen
2009	Against the Current	Liz Clark
	The Twilight Saga: New Moon	Esme Cullen
2010	The Twilight Saga: Eclipse	Esme Cullen
2011	The Art of Getting By	Charlotte Howe
	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1	Esme Cullen
	Young Adult	Beth Slade
2012	Liberal Arts	Ana
	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2	Esme Cullen
2015	One & Two	Elizabeth
	Hello, My Name Is Doris	Dr. Edwards
2016	Ouija: Origin of Evil	Alice Zander
2018	Nightmare Cinema	Helen	"This Way to Egress" segment
2020	Embattled	Susan Boykins
2023	Dark Harvest	Donna Shepard
2024	The Uninvited	Rose

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal	Molly	Episode: "Scrubs"
2000	The Sopranos	Stace	Episode: "D-Girl"
2002	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Serena Whitfield	Episode: "The Insider"
2004	Hack	Elaine Jones	Episode: "Extreme Commerce"
	The Jury	Rachel Byrnes	Episode: "Pilot"
2006	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Jillian Slaughter	Episode: "Proud Flesh"
	Saved	Alice Alden, M.D.	13 episodes
	Standoff	Anya Reed	Episode: "Heroine"
2007–2008	Grey's Anatomy	Ava / Rebecca Pope	18 episodes
2008	Wainy Days	Annie	Episode: "The Waindow"
	The Ex List	Bella Bloom	13 episodes
2010–2012	The Good Wife	Tammy Linnata	7 episodes
2013	Bonnie and Clyde: Dead and Alive	P.J. Lane	2 episodes
2014	True Detective	Laurie Perkins	Episode: "The Secret Fate of All Life"
2015	Mad Men	Diana Baur	2 episodes
2016–2019	Easy	Andi	5 episodes
2017	Manhunt: Unabomber	Ellie Fitzgerald	8 episodes
	Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders	Pam Bozanich	7 episodes
2018	The Haunting of Hill House	Adult Shirley Crain	8 episodes
2019	The Handmaid's Tale[17]	Mrs. Winslow	3 episodes
2020	50 States of Fright	Sara	2 episodes
2021	Impeachment: American Crime Story	Kathleen Willey	2 episodes

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Sweet Bird of Youth	Heavenly	La Jolla Playhouse
2000	The Hologram Theory	Mimi	Blue Lights Theatre Company
2001	Blackbird	Froggy	Bush Theatre
	Closer	Alice	Portland Center Stage
2002	Stone Cold Dead Serious	Shaylee Ledbetter / Sharice	American Repertory Theater
2003	The Winter's Tale	Perdita	Classic Stage Company
2005	Top Girls	Patient Griselda / Nell / Jeanine	Williamstown Theatre Festival
2012	How I Learned to Drive	Li'l Bit	Second Stage Theatre
2014	Conviction	No Name	Bay Street Theater
2015	The Money Shot	Karen	Lucille Lortel Theater
	Permission	Cyndy

Awards and nominations

List of awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Result
2006	Newport Beach Film Festival	Jury Award – Best Actress (Feature Film)	Sweet Land	Won
2007	Independent Spirit Award	Best Female Lead		Nominated
2007	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	Grey's Anatomy	Nominated
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated
2009	Prism Award	Best Performance in a Drama Multi-Episode Storyline		Nominated

References

1. "Thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes but my bday is July 2". Retrieved June 15, 2019.
2. Jason Buchanan (2007). "Elizabeth Reaser". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved April 2, 2012.
3. The Jewish News: "Bill’s Dreams Live On" Archived October 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine October 11, 2012
4. Davidson's Wife to Succeed Him As Owner of the Pistons^{[permanent dead link‍]} Yahoo Sports, March 14, 2009
5. Bloom, Nate (December 8, 2009). "Twilight". InterFaithFamily. Archived from the original on October 22, 2016.
6. "Slow climb for actress Elizabeth Reaser is more than 'Getting By'". The Oakland Press. June 26, 2011. Archived from the original on April 11, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
7. KRUG, KURT ANTHONY. ""Twilight" actress, Avondale grad talks about the end of her role as Esme Cullen". The Oakland Press. Archived from the original on September 16, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
8. Nassour, Ellis. "Elizabeth Reaser – Actress on the rise". Lifestyles Magazine. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
9. "Alumni News". The Juilliard School. February 2008. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011.
10. Martindale, David (July 15, 2003). "No Real-Life MD for Elizabeth Reaser". Tnt.tv. Archived from the original on October 4, 2010. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
11. "Elizabeth Reaser- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on June 23, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
12. Larry Carroll (February 19, 2008). "'Twilight' Film's First Family Revealed: Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser Lead Cullen Clan". MTV. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved March 13, 2008.
13. Another New The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Still - The Cullen Men
14. "Peter Facinelli, Ashley Greene, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone, Elizabeth Reaser, Nikki Reed, and Billy Burke Sign on to BREAKING DAWN; Plus Three New TWILIGHT: ECLIPSE Posters". Collider. May 19, 2010. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
15. "Exclusive: Elizabeth Reaser, Lili Taylor Join The Good Wife". TVGuide.com. Retrieved September 16, 2010.
16. Roschke, Ryan (January 31, 2019). "Blessed Be the Fruit: We Have All Kinds of Details For The Handmaid's Tale Season 3". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
17. "The Handmaid's Tale Season 3 Adds Christopher Meloni, Elizabeth Reaser". TVLine.com. January 24, 2019. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.

External links

• Elizabeth Reaser at IMDb