Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel on ‘The Better Sister' and taking control in Hollywood

Los Angeles Times

2 days ago

Things got heated between Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel last summer. Sweat was poured. Scores were settled. Justin Timberlake even got involved.
The intense showdowns occurred on a New York City padel court when the women had days off from filming their new Prime Video limited series, 'The Better Sister,' now streaming. Squaring off in the increasingly popular racquet sport, the actors, along with Biel's husband, Timberlake, and Banks' husband, Max Handelman, 'had a blast kicking each other's asses,' Biel said.
Back on 'The Better Sister' set, Banks and Biel were happy to play on the same team. There, they both served as stars and executive producers, and they praised the collaborative, ego-free environment overseen by showrunners Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado. (Though their competitive streak did continue with between-takes Bananagrams.)
'This was a group of, frankly, a lot of moms, who were like, 'We don't have time for nonsense. We want our crew home to have dinner with their families,' ' Banks said. 'There was a lot of mutual respect going on, but then we all demanded the best from each other.'
The eight-episode whodunit, adapted from the 2019 novel by Alafair Burke, is a twisty, Shakespearean tale: Two estranged sisters, the glamorous, successful Chloe (Biel) and the recovering addict Nicky (Banks), are thrust back together when Chloe's husband, Adam (Corey Stoll) — who used to be Nicky's husband — is murdered. When Nicky and Adam's son, Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) — who was raised by Chloe and Adam — is arrested for the crime, the sisters must untangle a web of family secrets and betrayal. Yeah, it's complicated.
'So many shows I've written on are about muscular, macho men doing violent things to each other,' said Corrado, whose past work includes 'Sons of Anarchy' and 'Deadwood.' 'But I think the scariest thing is women in this space and the intimate damage we can do to each other, particularly as sisters.'
While Biel, 43, and Banks, 51, both rose to prominence as actors, they've been increasingly expanding their resumes behind the camera. Over the past decade, Banks has directed films, including 'Cocaine Bear,' 'Pitch Perfect 2' and the 2019 'Charlie's Angels' reboot, and produced numerous projects under her and Handelman's Brownstone Productions banner.
Biel has likewise segued into producing with her company, Iron Ocean, which backed the psychological thriller series 'Cruel Summer,' 'The Sinner' and 'Candy,' the latter two in which she also starred. (Biel is also in early development on a reboot of '7th Heaven,' the '90s series on which she got her start as the rebellious Mary Camden, though she won't reprise her role.)
For Biel, those recent thriller projects, along with 'The Better Sister,' speak to what she finds 'endlessly interesting.' 'Why do humans do the things that they do?' she said. 'When you're pressed up against the wall and you're fighting for your life or to keep your kids safe, what would you do? How far would you go?'
In a joint video interview, Banks and Biel discussed making 'The Better Sister' and their decades of experience that led them here. These are edited excerpts from the conversation, which includes a few spoilers.
What initially attracted you to 'The Better Sister' and your specific roles?
Biel: I first read for the Nicky part, and I was definitely interested in it. Then, a couple days later, I got the call saying, 'They want you for Chloe.' When I heard that Elizabeth was talking to them about Nicky, I was like, oh, yes. This makes more sense to me now. I've also heard for a million years that we look like sisters.
Banks: I had never heard a bad word about Jessica Biel in the industry. She was known as kind, generous, talented, a great collaborator, easy to be around. And I thought, well, that sounds easy and fun. Craig Gillespie, who directed our pilot, got on with me and said, 'I want you to be a mess, Banks. It needs more humor, and you'll be funny.' He sold me on this messy Nicky, in contrast to Jessica, and I thought that sounded like a great idea all across the board.
Elizabeth, as an actor, you've received the most recognition for your comedic roles, but you've been focused lately on quieter, dramatic parts. Is that a direction you'd always hoped to go in?
Banks: It's interesting. I started my career in a lot of dramas. Man, I remember making 'Seabiscuit.' It was nominated for seven Academy Awards. It was very serious fare, and I was put in that [dramatic] box early on. It honestly took making 'The 40-Year-Old Virgin' to even clue people in that I was funny. Like, I knew I was. I thought I was going to come in and do rom-coms, but when I started making films, it wasn't a skill that was asked of me. I love that I got to reset my career, and I've been able to do it multiple times.
The very title of this series, 'The Better Sister,' pits these two women against each other. How have you seen that comparison game play out in your own experiences in this industry?
Biel: You're constantly compared. At least back in the day, it felt like people were trying to keep women away from each other. You'd sit in an audition room, and there would be this energy because your agents and managers would have made you feel like these women are your competition. There really was a feeling of 'you are against everybody, and everybody is against you.' I feel like that's changed so much, but this industry is cutthroat. I have a lot of real experience in feeling less than, feeling judged, feeling like the industry has been putting their thumb on top of you, and you have to fight, fight, fight for every opportunity.
Banks: I had a similar experience coming up as an ingénue. There's a scarcity mentality, like there's only so many roles. Now we have all of this incredible data, like what the Geena Davis Institute has collected, about women's roles in Hollywood. At some point, I just looked around and thought, the numbers are against me. The very first film I ever made ['Wet Hot American Summer'] was with Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper, and they went on to play superheroes. I'm never going to get that, especially once I got over a certain age. You start to understand that it's systemic, and it is a numbers game. You can keep playing that game, or you can do what so many incredible women have done before me, which is create your own opportunities.
I know that we are encouraging the next generation because I made a movie with them called 'Bottoms.' Emma Seligman, Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri, they're doing it now. They're going to make their own stuff, and it's incredible. I think the industry has changed because women changed it. I just want to make sure that we have actually learned the lessons, and we are creating the opportunities.
Biel: I really do hope it is different and better and more fair and more loving because, man, it was hard.
One of the big themes in this show is trust. This idea of, can we trust our family? Can we trust our partners? Can we trust the police? Can we trust our memories? Did working on this show make you question anything about your own realities?
Banks: My father served in Vietnam, and we never talked about it when I was a kid. Vietnam vets suffered when they came back. America was not interested in them. What does that do to people's psyches that had served their country and now they're being spit at? This brought up a lot of those notions for me about how little you actually know your parents when you're a child and how the layers come out the older you get.
I was the older sister, and I was able to protect my younger sister from the version of my father that I knew. He didn't give that version to her because he and my mom had learned a lesson about what was going on with him. I'm 11 years older than my brother. He did not get the same version of my parents that I did.
Biel: Where I parallel a little bit in Chloe's world is this weird, naive trust of police. It's interesting watching Elizabeth in the scenes where she's expressing Nicky's feelings about, 'Don't trust these people. Don't give them anything.' I was wondering if I have those same thoughts that Chloe does, where I would just offer up information that I shouldn't because I trust that they're here to protect me. Would I be in a situation where I would not be taking care of myself or my family members because I felt obligated to almost please this police department who is supposed to help me?
So, [I was] trying to understand that system a little bit better, alongside all the questions you have about your parents and what version you got as a child. My brother and I are three years apart, but I was working when I was really young, and he wasn't. He was at home. I basically abandoned him. But I was so self-absorbed, I didn't think about it in that way. I just was doing what was my passion. I know he had a very different experience in our family than I did. I feel nervous to talk to him about it sometimes because I have guilt around that. He was in my shadow, and I left him.
Spoilers for the final episodes — we ultimately learn that Nicky killed Adam, and that reveal puts everything we've seen her do thus far in a different light. Elizabeth, what went into playing a character who's keeping a huge secret from everyone, including the audience, for so long?
Banks: Look, I literally say right after he gets arrested, 'Tell them it was me. I'll say I did it.' But nobody's going to believe her. I was actually always thinking about 'Presumed Innocent,' the original [film], where she knows all along that she can make him free. Ethan's not going to jail. Nicky was willing and ready every minute of this entire series to offer herself up and say, 'I'm going to jail for this. I did it.' I think she almost expects that it's where her life is supposed to go — but she also can't let Adam win. So, there is a lot of strategy going on for Nicky. She's playing chess, and she's playing the long game, and poor Chloe is not in on any of it.
Chloe then ends up framing Adam's boss for the murder in the finale. Jessica, how did you feel about that decision and the motivations around it?
Biel: It felt to me that it was what had to happen. Because once it's revealed that Adam set Nicky up and pushed those drugs on her, and she's not this horrific mom, her son was not in danger — that realization for Chloe is just like — oh, my God — everything that she has done has been in vain. She ruined her sister's life. She's taken over being the mother of this child. For what? It's all a lie. So, when all of that comes out, that is the moment where she is 100% loyal to Nicky. They are officially in it together. Now she has to protect Nicky in order to protect Ethan, and to do that, we need somebody to take the blame for this because we are all culpable. Everybody is playing their part, and nobody is innocent.
There's a line in the show to the effect of, 'Nothing ever really disappears,' whether that's because of the stories that people tell about us or the permanence of the internet. Is there a story or project that's followed you around that you wish would go away?
Biel: I'm sure you could dig up some stuff about me, and I would probably be like, 'Oh, yeah, that wasn't the best choice.' But you have to fall on your face, look like an idiot, sound like an idiot and get back up and go, 'All right, won't do that again.' I don't know where I would be if I didn't stumble around a little bit. I don't want to be stumbling around too much anymore at this age.
On the flip side, what past chapter of your life are you the most proud of?
Banks: I really am proud that I was able to use the opportunity that came during 'The Hunger Games,' where I had this guaranteed work with these big movies. I started my family then, and I started my directing career then, and it was because I wasn't out there shaking it trying to make a living. It was a real gift to have some security for a hot minute because it allowed me to look around and go, is this what I really want? What are my priorities? What opportunities can I pursue while I have this security? I'm proud that I took advantage of it.
Biel: I think back in my early 20s, taking the opportunity to start my little [production] company [with co-founder Michelle Purple], which was dumb and small and lame for like 10 years. We didn't make anything, and it was a disaster. But we hustled, I took control and said I'm going to start making headway to make things for me. I'm not going to just sit and wait for a phone call from my agents, which is what I had been told to do. I started procuring material and working with writers and learning how to develop them. Now, my little company is making some stuff, which is cool.
Neither of you come from industry families. Did you feel like outsiders stepping into that world?
Banks: I still feel like an outsider.
Biel: I was going to say the same thing!
Banks: I know my worth, and I know what I've earned, so I don't have impostor syndrome anymore. But I do feel like there's a party in Hollywood that I'm not necessarily on the inside of. It keeps me scrappy, to be honest.
Biel: It also keeps you from getting lost in the sauce. You're not paying so much attention to everybody else or what you're not getting. It's a good mindset to be in because you just focus on what you're doing. When I'm outputting creatively, that's what fuels me. The joy is in doing it.