Elizabeth Reaser

15 Jun, 1975 | Bloomfield, Michigan

Actress

Biography

Elizabeth Ann Reaser is an American film, television, and stage actress. She is perhaps best known for co-starring in the 2005 feature films Stay, and The Family Stone, the 2006 television series Saved, and her guest role in Grey's Anatomy. She also starred in the CBS Fantasy/Dramedy series The Ex-List, in which she played the series' lead character, Bella Bloom. Reaser also portrayed Esme Cullen in the film adaptation of Twilight, based on the novel written by Stephenie Meyer. Reaser was born in Bloomfield, Michigan, an affluent Detroit suburb, the daughter of Karen Davidson and John Reaser. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School. She also attended Birmingham Seaholm High School and graduated from Avondale High School. She once appeared in a London stage production for only two audience members, and in preparation for her role on Saved she hung out in an emergency room, researching the behaviour of the medical staff. In October 2004, Interview magazine hailed her as one of the "14 To Be" emerging creative women. She earned the "Jury Award" at the Newport Beach Film Festival in 2006 for her work in the film Sweet Land, and in 2007 was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award as "Best Female Lead" for the same part. Reaser also earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring guest appearance throughout 2007 on the television series Grey's Anatomy as an unidentified pregnant woman suffering from amnesia. She played the role of Esme Cullen in the movie Twilight, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer.