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Lizzy Caplan is best known for her work on ‘Mean Girls,’ ‘True Blood’ and ‘Masters of Sex.’

Synopsis

Born in Los Angeles in 1982, actress Lizzy Caplan first attracted notice with her appearances in Freaks and Geeks. She went on to appear in the 2004 comedy Mean Girls with Lindsay Lohan. In 2008, Caplan had plum roles on television and in film with True Blood and Cloverfield. She also earned praise for her work on such TV comedies as Party Down and New Girl. In 2013, Caplan began her starring role as Virginia Johnson in the drama Masters of Sex.

Early Life and Career

Born on June 30, 1982, in Los Angeles, California, Lizzy Caplan has earned accolades for her performances on such television shows as Party Down, True Blood and Masters of Sex. She grew up as the daughter of two professionals—her father worked as a lawyer and her mother was a political aide. Caplan's mother died when she was a teenager.

Caplan started acting around the age of 15. Her first big break came a few years later when she landed a recurring role on the television show Freaks and Geeks created by Judd Apatow. The acclaimed, but short-lived series followed the lives of several teenage outcasts. Caplan's next major career boost came with a part on the big screen. In 2004's Mean Girls, she played a teenage misfit named Janis Ian opposite Lindsay Lohan.

Film and TV Successes

After working on such short-lived series as Tru Calling and The Class, Caplan landed a plum role on the popular vampire drama True Blood in 2008. She played Amy Burley, a self-styled hippie from an affluent background who develops a taste for vampire blood. According to an interview done on Chelsea Lately, Caplan used a little bit of liquid courage to get ready for her first sex scene on the show. "I was hammered for that," she explained. "It was like 7 a.m. in the morning and I was chugging vodka."

That same year, Caplan had a lead role in the suspenseful monster movie Cloverfield. She soon returned to the small screen as a sarcastic comic who also works as cater waiter on the much admired cable comedy Party Down. In 2012, Caplan had a recurring role on the popular sitcom New Girl. She then went on to demonstrate her gift for the dramatic on Masters of Sex.

Masters of Sex, which debuted in 2013, takes a fictionalized look at two pioneering researchers in the field of human sexuality —Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson. Johnson began assisting Masters with his work in the late 1950s, and together they generated the 1966 groundbreaking work Human Sexual Response. Caplan plays Virginia Johnson opposite Michael Sheen as William Masters. Her subtle, nuanced performance as a single mom and former club singer turned skilled researcher has earned Caplan some of the best reviews of her career. She also picked up an Emmy Award nomination as well.

As she explained to Telegraph newspaper, Caplan enjoys playing Johnson. "Every moment there's more than one thing going on in her head, and the fact that she can be so many things in every beat of every line makes it a never-ending challenge."

Caplan didn't forget about comedy, though. She starred in The Interview with Seth Rogan and James Franco, released in December 2014 and a 2015 holiday comedy The Night Before. Caplan was back in action the following year as Lula in the Now You See Me 2.