Her Biography
Elizabeth Jean Philipps was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on June 25, 1979. She was raised in Scottsdale in Arizona, to Joseph and Barbara Philipps, along with her older sister, Leigh Ann. She earned the name, “Busy” at the ripe ol’ age of six months due to her constant running around. Her parents (and her babysitter) started to call her Busy, which has stuck with her ever since.
Busy caught the acting bug early on, after taking part in her school’s version of "Charlotte's Web”, where she played the role of Wilbur the Pig. As time progressed, she continued with her acting aspirations when she attended Chapparral High School, in Scottsdale, where she was voted as "Best Actress" and "Most Likely to Become a Famous Actress".
Fresh out of high school, Busy enrolled in various acting classes to enrich her craft. She could be found performing at her local theater, and continued her studies at the Actors Lab of Arizona, where she wrote and produced two productions and also took a course in the summer of 1998 at the Oxford School of Drama in England. Surprisingly, she had her first paying “professional” job at the age of 17 when Mattel hired her for a Toy Fair convention in New York to act as a live Barbie doll. Once she was 18, she ventured out to Los Angeles and enrolled and graduated with a degree in theater from Loyola Marymount College. This is where she met and became best friends with her on/off co-star, Linda Cardellini, as well as her ex-longterm boyfriend, Colin Hanks.
As time progressed and her skills flourished, Busy took on a series of projects ranging from independent to more main stream. These ranged from her first film role as Karen Carter in “The Smokers” , to cameos on TV shows like, "Malcolm in the Middle", “Saving Graces” , “Entourage” and "Dead Last” . Busy finally hit pay dirt with her role as Kim Kelly; in the critically acclaimed and cult classic, "Freaks and Geeks". Sadly the show ended after one season, and still today remains as one of those TV shows that makes you wonder what happened to the world of TV. Now looking for new work, Busy auditioned and won the role of Audrey Liddell for a new season of the hit teen-phenom, “Dawson’s Creek” . With her quirky, joyful and hilarious antics, the producers signed her on as a series regular for the remaining of the show’s final two seasons.
After wrapping production on “Dawson’s Creek”, Busy set out to work in film, and while working on a few unsuccessful projects, she found a wonderful role in the hit, “White Chicks”, which starred the Wayans’ Brothers, Shawn and Marlon. She played a pretty significant role in the film, and let the public audience know that she wasn’t going anywhere after wrapping two successful TV shows. A few more TV cameos geared her up for yet another TV role that put her in the lead position for a change. The show was ”Love, Inc.”.A role that was originally held for Shannen Doherty, Busy was then selected as Denise Johnson, a successful dating consultant, who can’t seem to find love, herself. The show lasted for only one season, due to changes with the WB and UPN, which eventually merged into one network, the show did not make the new fall schedule.
Determined to continue working, Busy got a dream gig on one of the longest running and popular dramas on TV today. Busy began production on Season 13 of everyone’s favorite medical show, ”ER”. Once again, Busy was paired up with her best friend and former “Freaks and Geeks” co-star, Linda Cardellini. Busy plays Hope Bobeck, a Christian medical student who instantly became a series regular.
In between her TV gigs, Busy found time for love and in June 2007, Busy and her longtime boyfriend, Marc, got married! Congrats to the happy couple!
Busy has also honed in on her writing skills and penned the story for the extremely successful and hilarious comedy, ”Blades of Glory”, starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. The film had great box office success, and proved that Busy was more than just a pretty face and a great actress, she can write, too!
As 2007 comes closer to an end, official reports revealed that Busy has decided to leave ER after the first two episodes of Season 14 to pursue a part on the hit show, ”How I Met Your Mother”. After that, Busy took on a new role, the role of motherhood!
Her and screenwriter-husband, Marc Silverstein welcomed their first daughter, Birdie Leigh Silverstein on August 13, 2008. While in her third trimester, Busy filmed three episodes on "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", which aired in September 2008.
Written by Mandy for BusyPhilipps.net - Do not copy without permission!
