--- name: "Elizabeth Reaser" canonical: "https://film.one/person/elizabeth-reaser" roles: ["Actor"] born: "2 July 1975" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 80 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-09-17T13:46:01.162267+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Elizabeth Reaser Actor. Born 2 July 1975 in West Bloomfield, Michigan, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 2 July 1975, West Bloomfield, Michigan, USA - **Active:** 2014–2018 - **Also known as:** Elizabeth Ann Reaser - **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as actor, over 2 titles - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Reaser, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60802, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0714147/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/53755 ## Streaming the US now - **Netflix:** [*The Haunting of Hill House*](https://film.one/tv/the-haunting-of-hill-house.md) (80) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Elizabeth Reaser > Elizabeth Reaser plays the one in the family who keeps the house running while everyone else falls apart, and she does it in small movements the camera has to lean in to catch. The parts are usually smaller than she is. Shirley Crain runs a funeral home. In *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018) she is the sister who arranges the flowers, signs the forms and keeps her voice level, and Elizabeth Reaser plays her with the tidiness of someone who has decided that if she stops moving she will have to feel something. It is the part she is most often given, in one costume or another: the mother, the eldest, the person holding the door while the others run through it. She is good at it, and she is better than most of the material that asks for it. The career has gone in phases. Juilliard, then stage work and small television parts from 1998, including *The Sopranos*. A lead in *Sweet Land* (2005) as Inge, a Norwegian immigrant, which got her noticed. Then the two jobs that made her a face: Rebecca Pope, the amnesiac Jane Doe of *Grey's Anatomy* (2007), and Esme Cullen, mother of the vampire household, across the five *Twilight* films from 2008 to 2012. Since then it has mostly been television of a higher order, *True Detective* (2014), *Mad Men* (2015), *The Handmaid's Tale* (2017), with a horror lead in *Ouija: Origin of Evil* (2016) as Alice Zander along the way. What she does well is scale. She has said she likes the intimacy of working for the camera and getting into tiny moments, and that is exactly what shows: a jaw set a fraction too hard, a hand that goes to straighten something that is already straight. She prepared for Shirley by shadowing a mortician and looking at the dead, and it is there in how unbothered her hands are around a body and how bothered the rest of her is. Mike Flanagan, directing, gave her room for that. What he also gave her was a strand about her own marriage that the series never needed, and we said so at the time. Watching it again, we found we minded less than we expected, because Reaser plays the marriage as one more thing Shirley is managing rather than a subplot, and that quiet stubbornness moved us more than the scene had earned. The franchise years are harder to assess, and we have not reviewed them. Esme brought her recognition; whether it brought her anything to act is a question we will leave to those who have sat through all five. The pattern across the rest is plain enough. She is a supporting player who does lead-sized work in the corners, and directors keep noticing after the fact. Somebody should write her the eldest sister's story and leave the funeral home out of it. ## Biography Elizabeth Reaser is an American actress. She was born on 2 July 1975 in Bloomfield, Michigan, and trained at the Juilliard School, graduating with a BFA in 1999 after earlier study at Oakland University. She is known for her role as Esme Cullen in the *Twilight* film series (2008–2012) and as Shirley Crain in the Netflix series *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018). Other credits include recurring roles in *Grey's Anatomy* (2005–) and appearances in *The Sopranos* (1999) and *True Detective* (2014). She has also worked in theatre. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018), Fi1m 80, as Shirley Crain — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-haunting-of-hill-house.md) - *True Detective* (2014), Fi1m 80, as Laurie Spencer — [page](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md) ## Complete filmography (49) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Act One* (2026), as Julie - *The Uninvited* (2025), as Rose - *Dark Harvest* (2023), as Donna Shepard - *Embattled* (2020), as Susan - *50 States of Fright* (2020), series, as Sara - *The Haunting of Hill House* (2018), series, as Shirley Crain — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-haunting-of-hill-house.md) - *Nightmare Cinema* (2018), as Helen - *Law & Order True Crime* (2017), series, as Pam Bozanich - *Manhunt* (2017), series, as Ellie Fitzgerald - *The Handmaid's Tale* (2017), series, as Olivia Winslow — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-handmaids-tale.md) - *Ouija: Origin of Evil* (2016), as Alice Zander - *Easy* (2016), series, as Andi - *American Crime Story* (2016), series, as Kathleen Willey - *Hello, My Name Is Doris* (2015), as Dr. Edwards - *One & Two* (2015), as Elizabeth - *True Detective* (2014), series, as Laurie Spencer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/true-detective.md) - *Bonnie & Clyde* (2013), series, as P.J. Lane - *The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2* (2012), as Esme Cullen - *Liberal Arts* (2012), as Ana - *The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1* (2011), as Esme Cullen - *Young Adult* (2011), as Beth Slade - *The Art of Getting By* (2011), as Charlotte Howe - *The Twilight Saga: Eclipse* (2010), as Esme Cullen - *The Twilight Saga: New Moon* (2009), as Esme Cullen - *The Good Wife* (2009), series, as Tammy Linnata — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-good-wife.md) - *Against the Current* (2009), as Liz Clarke - *Twilight* (2008), as Esme Cullen - *The Ex List* (2008), series, as Bella Bloom - *Wainy Days* (2007), series, as Annie - *Mad Men* (2007), series, as Diana Baur — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-men.md) - *Purple Violets* (2007), as Bernadette - *The Wedding Weekend* (2006), as Julep - *Standoff* (2006), series, as Anya Reed - *Puccini for Beginners* (2006), as Allegra - *Saved* (2006), series, as Dr. Alice Alden - *The Family Stone* (2005), as Susannah Stone Trousdale - *Sweet Land* (2005), as Inge Altenberg - *Stay* (2005), as Athena - *Grey's Anatomy* (2005), series, as Rebecca Pope, Jane Doe, Jane Doe / Ava — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/greys-anatomy.md) - *The Jury* (2004), series, as Rachel Byrnes - *Mind the Gap* (2004), as Malissa Zubach - *Hack* (2002), series, as Elaine Jones - *Killing Emmett Young* (2002), as Alison Holmes - *Law & Order: Criminal Intent* (2001), series, as Serena Whitfield, Jillian Slaughter - *Thirteen Conversations About One Thing* (2001), as Young Woman in Class - *The Believer* (2001), as Miriam - *The Sopranos* (1999), series, as Stace — Fi1m 94, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md) - *Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal* (1996), series, as Molly (uncredited) - *The Families Stone*, as Susannah Stone ## Gallery - ![Elizabeth Reaser](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-d762bbad10f3.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser — Tara Kerwin - https://www.flickr.com/photos/tararebeka/, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Elizabeth_Reaser.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Elizabeth Reaser (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-875609edcbc0.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser (2011) — Gerald Geronimo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Elizabeth_Reaser_%285963257228%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Elizabeth Reaser speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-480cbb4f22f8.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Elizabeth_Reaser_%287585873774%29.jpg/1280px-Elizabeth_Reaser_%287585873774%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Elizabeth Reaser speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-948308b32d5e.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Elizabeth_Reaser_%287585873774%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Elizabeth_Reaser_%287585873774%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Elizabeth Reaser](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-837e246b1a44.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser — Image via TMDB - ![Elizabeth Reaser](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-287a542a9715.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser — Image via TMDB - ![Elizabeth Reaser](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-e850294db197.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser — Image via TMDB - ![Elizabeth Reaser speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere.](https://film.one/media/person/490310/gallery-8449cf238029.jpg) Elizabeth Reaser speaking at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Please attribute to Gage Skidmore if used elsewhere. — Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Elizabeth_Reaser_%287585874944%29.jpg/1280px-Elizabeth_Reaser_%287585874944%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/elizabeth-reaser