By E.C. Gladstone, Photographs: Brian Bowen Smith

h, yes, you do know her. You think you don't—the name doesn't ring a bell—but really, you do. She was the gullible all-American bank teller in Catch Me If You Can. She was Jeff Bridges' pillar-of-strength wife in Seabiscuit. She was the randy bookstore clerk in The 40 Year Old Virgin. Ding-ding-ding?

Admittedly, Elizabeth Banks' name is about as bland as it gets in modern Hollywood. (Her real surname, Mitchell, isn't much more memorable.) But would you believe it graces the cover of no less than five hot DVD rentals on Blockbuster's new-release shelves as we speak, and the opening credits of one of the major films in theaters this season? So the real burning question for Elizabeth Banks is not, What has she done?, but, Why has it taken us this long to notice?

"Slow and steady wins the race," says Banks, crossing Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood to grab a bite of déjeuner at Le Pain Quotidien between production meetings.

As she sits down unnoticed in the middle of the popular lunch spot, she explains, "I'll never be paparazzi fodder, because I don't date other movie stars." There's always the option of getting drunk and driving down Pacific Coast Highway.

"That's not me, either. I attract no scandal," she says with a laugh. If she is to become famous, says Banks, "I want it to be about the work, not my private life."

Were that the only barometer, the name Elizabeth Banks would already be on all of our lips. From broad comedy to searing drama, whether screaming at giant slugs (in Slither, one of those hot rentals) or going head to head with Glenn Close (in Heights, a strongly recommended sleeper), Liz—or "Banks," or "Lizzie Bits," as fellow actor Dave Koechner dubbed her—has truly inhabited every character she has played, sometimes at the expense of forging her own identity.

"They all obviously have some aspect of me," she says, even when she portrays a real person, as she does in the new Invincible opposite Mark Wahlberg. "I'm sort of a character actor masquerading as a leading lady," Elizabeth continues, wisely stopping just short of complaining that her good looks have handicapped her.

After all, she certainly has the goods to be on anyone's hot list. And judging by the number of films in which she appears in bra and panties, or in a bubbly bath, she's obviously comfortable showing off her body, which even Howard Stern would have a hard time criticizing. Even her neck, featured full-screen in Sexual Life, is perfect, and she has some of the clearest skin you'll ever see up close ...

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