Eliza Coupe

Born in Plymouth, NH, Eliza Coupe grew up in the small town where she attended Plymouth Regional High School. There she took part in the school's prestigious, award-winning theater program. Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, it was on the school's stage - and later, during her time performing at Los Angeles' Groundlings Theater - that she gained the confidence to pursue her chosen career as an actress and comedian. After graduating, she went on to further study theater at the California Institute of the Arts. In 2003, Coupe tackled her first acting gig, appearing as a soldier in an all-female troupe which toured France with a production of Shakespeare's, "King Lear." It was not until late 2005 however, that she began to attract serious attention as a comedienne when she performed a highly entertaining and irreverent one-woman sketch show titled "The Patriots." Directed by Anthony King, Coupe portrayed a number of diverse and hilarious characters. Premiering at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York, her outstanding characterizations won her the Jury Award for Breakout Act of 2006 at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Following that, Variety named Coupe one of 10 comics to watch in 2006. That same year, she scored a small part as Allison in the film short "The Day The World Saved Shane Sawyer" (2006). Her first major screen credit followed, in which she essayed a puppeteer in the comedy romance "I Think I Love My Wife," alongside comedy star and director Chris Rock. It was around that time that Coupe also became part of Sierra Mist's commercial campaign, alongside comics Jim Gaffigan, Michael Ian Black and Tracy Morgan. Coupe next landed a role on the short-lived MTV comedy series, "Nick Cannon Presents: Short Circuitz" (2007). After that, she made more appearances on television series, including in a first-season episode of the musical comedy series, "Flight of the Conchords" (HBO, 2007) and on the short-lived comedy series "Unhitched" (Fox, 2008). Not long after that, Linda Bloodworth Thomason cast Coupe as a regular on "12 Miles of Bad Road" alongside Lily Tomlin and Mary Kay Place. As Gaylor Shakespeare, she played Tomlin's youngest daughter in this comedy about an insanely wealthy, yet kooky Texas family and their real estate business. Also in 2008, Coupe landed a recurring role as Willow on Christina Applegate's comedy series "Samantha Who?" (ABC, 2007-09). Later that year, Coupe showed up in yet another recurring role, as Dr. Denise "Jo" Mahoney on the eighth season of the acclaimed medical comedy series "Scrubs," a story centering around intern John "J.D" Dorian's (Zach Braff) escapades at Sacred Heart Hospital. Coupe did such a good job in the role that during the ninth season of the series, she was upped to regular status on the popular show. At the same time she also appeared on the companion web series, "Scrubs: Interns." In 2009, Coupe garnered a leading role as the character Callie/Crossfade in the television movie "No Heroics" (ABC, 2009) and made a guest appearance on USA Network's popular series "Royal Pains" (2009-16). Continuing to raise her profile, she popped up in a bit part as a hotel room neighbor in Sofia Coppola's drama, "Somewhere" (2010). It was in 2011 when Coupe scored another major coup - a starring role as Jane Williams on David Caspe's hit comedy series, "Happy Endings" alongside fellow up-and-coming stars Elisha Cuthbert, Zachary Knighton, Adam Pally, Damon Wayans, Jr. and Casey Wilson. A modern twist on the popular sitcom "Friends" (NBC, 1994-2004), the critical darling explored a group of close buddies living in Chicago whose characters defy stereotypes. As Alex's sister (Elisha Cuthbert), Jane is married to Brad (Damon Wayans, Jr.) and is the ultra-competitive controller of everything and everyone around her. Her comical Type-A character prided herself on getting tasks done flawlessly and in record time, much like Courteney Cox's Monica Gellar on "Friends." That same year, Coupe appeared in the romantic comedy movie "What's Your Number?" and popped up on the comedy series "Community" (NBC, 2009-14). After appearing in a brief role in the comedy hit "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues" (2013), Coupe had an arc on the comedy-drama "House of Lies" (Showtime 2012-16) and starred in the indie comedies "The Last Time You Had Fun" (2014) and "It's Us" (2015). Her next small screen role came on the legal comedy "Benched" (USA 2014), in which she played a high-powered lawyer making a mid-career shift into becoming a public defender.By Ela Lindsay