Elizabeth Banks is front and center during the promotion of Pitch Perfect 2, which is an interesting choice. Obviously, Banks is a big-name celebrity on her own, but PP2 is her directorial debut and I always worry about the lady directors coming out ahead of their films. Like, I still wonder if Angelina Jolie might have done a disservice to Unbroken by appearing on so many magazine covers and making the film so much about “La Jolie.” Anyway, Banks covers the new issue of Allure, and despite my misgivings, the interview is pretty great. I’m saying that because I love and admire her.

Elizabeth’s career theme: “If I had to pick a theme of the things I do, it would be: Girls win.”

The stress of directing: “Once you get offered a studio job, as a woman, it’s really hard to say no because they don’t let women do this very often. So I knew I needed to embrace it and I couldn’t mess it up. Because if you mess it up, they don’t let you do it again, and you become representative of female directors as a whole. Like, ‘See girls can’t do it.’”

She prefers comedy to drama: “Making people laugh is a very addictive thing… [At the Friars Club], all of these people absolutely get high off of killing a room. You can get that feeling of flying in drama as well, and I’ve had it many, many times. But I find making people laugh to be a really specially ability. It’s like having a superpower.”

Being married to Max Handelman since 2003:”I didn’t meet my husband and think, I’ve met the man I’m going to marry. I was like he’s cute. I’ll f–k him, because I’m 18 and in college.”

Their marriage works though: “Really, what happened was I’ve never met anyone I liked more. In the early years did I have crushes or little interests here and there? I know my husband did, and so did I, but we stayed together. We still to this day take the long view. We have always dreamed about our life together. And we work together every day, and we have a lot of respect for each other on every level. And then there’s love. And then there’s lust. So it’s great.”

[From Allure via E! News]

It’s always sad to hear that women directors just accept the biased system they’re working in, that if they aren’t all things to all people then they’ll never get another shot at directing again. It sucks. But I love Elizabeth’s theme: GIRLS WIN. She’s so cool. And her marriage sounds so… normal. Realistic. It’s not hearts and love at first sight and forcing a fairy tale on some random dude. It’s sticking with something and “taking the long view.” I love her.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.