ELIZABETH REASER
Date of Birth: June 15, 1975
Actress Elizabeth Reaser was born in Bloomfield, Michigan and grew up in rural Milford. Her mother and father divorced, and her mother remarried the billionaire Detroit Pistons owner William Davidson. She attended Birmingham Seaholm High School and Avondale High School, and worked odd jobs including being a caddy at a country club. She knew at a young age she wanted to be an actor, having "subjected her family to really bad shows in the living room." She attended college at Oakland University in Rochester Hills, Michigan for one year before deciding to apply at the Juilliard School of Drama. After being accepted, she relocated to New York City and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1999.
Reaser began receiving parts in shows such as Guiding Light, The Sopranos, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Saved. She then landed the role of pregnant amnesiac Jane Doe in Grey's Anatomy, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In October of 2004, Interview magazine named her as one of the "14 To Be" emerging creative women.
Her feature film debut was Stay (2005), followed by the drama Sweet Land (2005), for which she received rave reviews for her expressive portrayal of a Russian mail-order bride. Reaser was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance. She then appeared in The Family Stone (2005), Shut Up and Sing (2006), Puccini for Beginners (2006) and Purple Violets (2007) before landing the role of Esme Cullen in Twilight (2008). Although she has appeared in successful films and TV shows, she is not too concerned with ratings, having once acted in a play in London with only two people in the audience.
Reaser can be seen starring in the sitcom The Ex List and in addition to The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), will appear in the drama Against the Current in 2009. She is currently in a relationship with a man whose identity she won't reveal, but she has said he is not in show business. She is a vegetarian.
Filmography
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)
Against the Current (2009)
Twilight (2008)
Purple Violets (2007)
Puccini for Beginners (2006)
Shut Up and Sing (2006)
The Family Stone (2005)
Sweet Land (2005)
Stay (2005)
Mind the Gap (2004)
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001)
The Believer (2001)