Elizabeth Banks has been cast as the female lead in Welcome To People, the directorial debut of Star Trek and Transformers co-writer Alex Kurtzman. Banks is closer to becoming the movie star that she's always had the potential to be, perhaps because she's always been such an effective comic actress that shes been a little pigeonholed, now she will co-star with Chris Pine in the family drama co-written by Kurzman, Roberto Orci and Jody Lambert with Steven Spielberg producing.
In the film, Pine stars as a young businessman who flies home for his father’s funeral and finds out that, in his will, it’s stipulated he deliver $150,000 to an alcoholic older sister he didn’t know he had and her 12-year-old son. He does so without revealing who he is. The title refers to an anger management program the 12-year-old is enrolled in in the film. The Wrap broke the news of Banks’ casting in the role.
Banks has been regularly taking on broader and more challenging roles, including one in the upcoming The Last Three Days and in her recent stint on 30 Rock. Knowing that this is a role that Hilary Swank really wanted and Amy Adams was intimated by, it sounds like Banks has a shot at a little gold man if she can pull it off.
