By Everybody has that moment sooner or later where they see an actor in a movie but can’t place them, go home, look them up, and stare at the screen in disbelief when they discover where they’ve seen them before. For me, one of those moments involved the lovely Lizzy Caplan.
While watching Hot Tub Time Machine, I couldn’t help but find myself smitten with the free-spirited April, who crosses paths with John Cusack’s time-displaced character and steals his heart. I went home, looked her up, and sure enough I couldn’t believe that this is the same woman who played Janus the goth girl in Mean Girls.
Join me after the jump as I go in-depth behind Lizzy Caplan’s transformation from goth to gorgeous.
Everybody has that moment sooner or later where they see an actor in a movie but can’t place them, go home, look them up, and stare at the screen in disbelief when they discover where they’ve seen them before. For me, one of those moments involved the lovely Lizzy Caplan.
While watching Hot Tub Time Machine, I couldn’t help but find myself smitten with the free-spirited April, who crosses paths with John Cusack’s time-displaced character and steals his heart. I went home, looked her up, and sure enough I couldn’t believe that this is the same woman who played Janus the goth girl in Mean Girls.
Join me after the jump as I go in-depth behind Lizzy Caplan’s transformation from goth to gorgeous.{{page_break}}
Mean Girls is one of those guilty pleasure movies for me. Caplan stars as one of a pre-trainwreck Lindsay Lohan’s only friends and helps her character plot to take down the queen bee of the school. It’s written for the screen by the brilliant Tina Fey, stars uber-hottie Lacey Chabert (stay tuned for a future installment on her), and also features the Janitor from Scrubs and SNL alumnus Tim Meadows. There’s a lot to love, and upon finding out that it served as Lizzy Caplan’s big break, I love it even more.
Starting out with minor roles in shows like Smallville and Freaks and Geeks, Caplan’s first starring role came in 2003 as she played one of the title characters in the ill-fated Fox sitcom parody The Pitts, about a family with ridiculously terrible luck. Shortly after, Mean Girls came along and brought her to the attention of the world at large. She appeared several times in Tru Calling and went on to star in two more television shows that just weren’t meant to be: Related and The Class. In 2006 she began to lend her voice to Steve Smith’s girlfriend Debbie in American Dad, a role she’s reprised on numerous occasions. In 2008, she starred in everybody’s favorite shaky-cam monster movie Cloverfield and followed that with a supporting role in My Best Friend’s Girl, outshining main character Kate Hudson and making a Dane Cook movie tolerable. After that, she showed off her dark side (and more than a little skin) in season one of True Blood, then landed another starring role in the television show Party Down. She then stole my heart along with John Cusack’s in this year’s Hot Tub Time Machine and continues to expand her horizons.
What is it about Lizzy Caplan that is so captivating? Well, she has a killer smile, a care-free attitude, and can turn on the smolder at the drop of a hat. It also doesn’t hurt that she’s drop-dead gorgeous, looks good in any hairstyle, and clearly drank her milk growing up.
Like Emma Stone and Rosario Dawson before her, Lizzy Caplan also seems like a really cool chick to hang out with. She’s goofy enough to laugh at your stupid jokes, attractive enough to play the perfect winggirl, and looks like she could drink like a pro. She also has a cat named after Lisa from Saved By the Bell. What’s not to love?
In the span of seven years, Caplan has transformed from bit part player to angry goth to unlucky TV star to major supporting character to breakout beauty. With an upcoming supporting role in Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, the future is very bright for this lovely lady.
Join me Wednesday as we welcome several firsts: Our own Siobhan will debut as Some Like It Hot’s first guest writer and she will be introducing our first international addition to the feature, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo herself, Noomi Rapace!
Second Opinion: Tom Fronczak
Not much more to say than Sean already did. She showed sparks in Freak and Geeks, then added lots of weight and skill to her Mean Girls appearance, then I swear it was her skinny twin who did the sex scenes in True Blood. Her written role in Hot Tub Time Machine was pretty weak, but it clearly wasn't her fault. I loved her so much in Cloverfield that I'm tempted to watch Party Down just because she's in it, but I just don't have the time.
Hopefully her hotness didn't come from a few years of drug binges, because seeing a repeat of Brittany Murphy's demise with Caplan would be even more painful. Rewatching the ending of Spun with Murphy still gives me the creeps.
Top Three Some Like It Hot Selections for Lizzy Caplan
1. True Blood
2. Hot Tub Time Machine
3. Party Down
Also, if there are any attractive, talented film actresses you’d like to see in a future installment of Some Like It Hot, check out the Some Like It Hot thread in the forums and let me know!
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