Interview: Elizabeth Banks avoids whammies but embraces contestants’ happy tears on ‘Press Your Luck’

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Emmy-nominated actress, producer and director Elizabeth Banks is many things but she’s a lover of classic television game shows first. After cutting her teeth on All My Children and Sex and the City, Banks landed the first Spider-Man trilogy and Miss Brant, parlaying that into comedies like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Oscar-nominated dramas like Seabiscuit and multiple arcs and the television comedies 30 Rock, Scrubs and Modern Family. She might be most well known for her role as Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games series (and her incredible line delivery of, “that is mahogany!”) but Banks has also broken out as a director, taking on the 2015 Pitch Perfect sequel, 2019 Charlie’s Angels reboot, and just this year, the wild hit horror-comedy Cocaine Bear. But her heart has always been harking back to growing up watching game shows, specifically Press Your Luck. “After school, my sister and I would come home and we would watch Press Your Luck, and we loved the whammies because they’re animated and they’re so silly. And also, we felt like the questions were pop culture things that we could maybe get spins,” she says.

Press Your Luck began in 1983 with Peter Tomarken hosting and that chant of “press your luck!” grew into a household phrase. It eventually could be reviewed in marathons on the Game Show Network, where you could spend an entire afternoon with your stress levels high as contestants pushed through their fears and attempted to win money by avoiding little “whammies” on the screen that would take all their money away. With the popularity of the show, ABC launched a reboot in 2019 with Banks as its host, who guides contestants through emotional turmoil and intense joy as they play for money and items. This iteration has prizes that have a personal connection to the contestants that make for a great experience as a viewer, including chances to go to the Super Bowl for ultimate NFL fans and Buffalo Wild Wings food for three years for foodies that enjoy burgers and wings. It creates an atmosphere where the player isn’t playing for random things they might not want, but definite wants that can be satisfied by winning.  It’s truly fun watching Banks get as excited as the players when they start racking up great prizes. 

I spoke to Banks about hosting the series, the pitfalls of not passing turns, and when to expect the whammy. 

Tyler Doster: Do you have a history or personal connection to game shows that inspires you to try to bring a certain vibe to this show?

Elizabeth Banks: You know, it’s so funny because I grew up watching game shows of the eighties and nineties. I watched the original Press Your Luck with Peter Tomarken and loved it and loved him and love the whammies and all that. I think what we’ve evolved the show to be so much more contestant centric, like we really dig into and really produce the contestants in a way that I’m so proud of us for doing. So now I feel like it’s like you’re really getting to know the person whose life is being changed. The show used to give away really silly, funny jokey prizes, like the shag rugs and things like that. And I feel like we’ve preserved a lot of that tone in some of our fun prizes. They drive me nuts when they hit a square that’s like $1349 and it’s like, “why?!” You know what I mean? 

It’s just the quirks of the show that they’ve kept in place that really delight me as somebody who watched the original and then like, just silly prizes of course. And then the silly whammy. So it’s that tone. But then these deep personal stories, and that’s the part of the show that just engages me at a whole different level that, I’ll be honest, I don’t know of another game show that does that with their contestants. That’s what I think sets Press Your Luck apart in a way that other game shows just aren’t and that creates a connection with the audience that I just know is undeniable.

TD: I think the really personal prizes just add such a layer of personal connection you’re developing and it brings an excitement to see them actually get these prizes.

EB : Yeah. I mean, if you win concert tickets to Barry Manilow and you don’t like Barry Manilow, you’re like, great, thanks so much. But if Barry Manilow is like your life’s dream and we give you, you know, go on his tour bus and see him five times, you’re literally choked up crying. Like, this is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to you. You know? And that’s what I love. By the way, our prize department works their tail off too to make those prizes happen, you know? That’s been really fun. And I feel like we’re constantly trying to up our game too, like, you know, trying to get more celebrities to do stuff. We had somebody, they didn’t end up in our second game. They didn’t win the first round, but they wanted to be married by Hulk Hogan. And we were talking to Hulk Hogan about marrying this person. That’s amazing. It’s that level of commitment from the prize department that I also take a lot of pride in. 

TD: When you’re watching this show, what is your stress level like when these contestants keep going and they will not stop and you just know that the whammy is coming?

EB: It’s so high. I mean, I’m in the front row. It’s really, really high and hard. It’s really hard to watch everybody passing spins, making mistakes, going against the whammy the second half of the show. You know, at that point, whoever’s there has already won. And, so, at that point I’m actually – weirdly – I’m more relaxed about losing. I get way more stressed out about trying to give someone a million dollars. Like, I always wanna give somebody a million dollars. So when they start to get close to that and that’s gonna get lost, then I’m very, very, very stressed out. (laughs) 

TD: Is it devastating being right there for it?

EB:I have literally wiped tears off of people’s faces. That’s the level of comfort and camaraderie that you’re giving to these contestants who are on the ride of their life. Most of them say like, “I don’t believe this even just happened.” Like they’re having out of body experiences, you know, and I’m just trying to keep them grounded and on the show. And of course we edit out like [when] they can’t do it, they don’t wanna hit the button. Do you know what I mean? It seems so life or death to them sometimes. And it’s really me, like coaxing them through like, “you know, don’t worry.” 

The fate is gonna be what it is today. And I really believe that with some people and the energy that they bring to it –  I do also really think the vibe of the room and the board and the game and the whole thing. It all comes together for people that are really positive about it. It comes together. I have watched people who rack it up and they’re very carefree. And then they’ll get to a point where they go, “oh crap.” Like it sinks in, it hits them [with] what’s happening. And the minute they that they tense up or they get freaked out, the whammy comes

TD: Of course, as a viewer, it’s always so stressful because I watched the original, I watch this one. It seems that the one thing humans are gonna do is continue to keep going, especially when they shouldn’t.

EB: Yeah. I mean, you do want a risk taker and I do also believe that everybody has a walkaway. You know, it’s why the personal prizes really matter. I mean, we had a guy, was it last season? It must have just been last season. Yeah. He was retiring as a huge baseball fan, I think it was the Padres. And he won his retirement party in the stadium, like running the bases, like however many people he wanted, like this whole huge retirement party and it was worth like, you know, $150,000 or something. And I don’t think he won a ton more money than that, but he hit that prize and it was literally his dream retirement party and that was it. He was like, “oh no, I’m not, that’s what I wanted.” But he left a happy, happy customer, you know, because that’s really, that’s what he cared about the most. He didn’t care about cars, he didn’t care about money. He was like, if I could have my dream retirement party and it’ll get planned for me and I, I don’t have to do anything and I just show up to it and my friends and family just show up and it’s with my favorite team, my favorite place. Like, let’s do it. And that’s what he wanted. So there are moments when I realized like, oh, this person’s actually hit the thing that they, they they came for, they’re gonna go now.

TD: You mentioned Barry Manilow before. There was a contestant this past season and she got Barry Manilow. She got, if I recall, like 10 prizes actually.

EB Yeah. Whatever it was. I just knew we did Barry Manilow this year (laughs). 

TD: What’s it like to be there for the immense joy they’re feeling?

EB: There was a woman, I believe her name was Marsha cuz I’m pretty sure we deemed her millionaire Marsha. And I really wanted her to win a million dollars and she won a car, I believe it was a BMW. And she was really emotional and I said, “why does this car mean so much to you?” And she said,” when my ex-husband asked me what my dream car was and when I said BMW, he scoffed at me. He was like, ‘you’re never gonna have that.’ And now I don’t have him, but I do have the car. It’s like he didn’t believe in me.” And it was really emotional even for me to hear that story, you know, to just see how she hadn’t been supported in her life. She’d been in a relationship with someone who didn’t believe in her and just spending 20 minutes with her, I was like, “anything’s possible for you.” You know? And that’s the feeling. Whether she won the car or whatever it was, it was the feeling that she had won, that she was a winner. That made the most impact on her. And that was really beautiful.

TD: What’s your preparation like for every episode? Um, obviously hair and makeup and everything, but is there any specific thing that you do in preparation for each episode? Does it differ? Is it always the same?

EB: It doesn’t differ too much. I’m pretty specific. So much of it has to do with taking care of my voice because the room is really raucous and we shoot multiple shows over multiple days and by the end of show four, show five, I am losing my voice because it’s literally like being in a rock concert. And we’ve actually had to install speakers so that the contestants can hear me so that I don’t have to yell all the time over the crowd (laughs). I often have to tell the crowd to quiet again. This gets edited out, but I get so excited and I’m screaming too for everybody through their game and just keeping the energy up so I really give my all to it. You have to bring the energy for these contestants.

This is their once in a lifetime shot at this being on tv [and] having a great experience. And I think we all really pride ourselves on providing a great experience for the contestants you know, a warm and exciting environment for the contestants and for the studio audience. You know, I’m entertaining the studio audience too. Like, I wanna make sure that the whole room just has a great energy to it and it’s hard to do at 10:00 AM It’s easier to do at three, it’s, and then my voice is gone by eight. A lot of my preparation is throat coat and tea and quiet time and lozenges. I don’t drink and [have] no dairy. I mean, I really take care of myself physically to get through. It’s very physical, the shows. Plus I’m in high heels, which most men are never gonna be in. And I’m in corsets, you know, I wanna look great on the show too. Fashion has become a real point of pride for me as well on the show and for the team. So, look, just like I’m never that comfortable, you know what I mean?

And I stand the whole time.

TD: You are obviously hosting this, but everyone also knows you as an actor, a director. I mean, Cocaine Bear obviously came out earlier this year. How is it balancing preparation for that and hosting Press Your Luck?

EB: This really kind of holds a little place for me. It becomes a sort of separate entity almost. It’s such a specific job. There’s nothing else like it in my career or in Hollywood, you know? It’s one of these things. I kind of liken it to doing the thing that feels the most like it is when I did Saturday Night Live. That’s the energy level that it takes, the commitment level that it takes, the physical thing that it takes, and that you are trying to be quick on your feet and light. The shows aren’t live so I can mess up, but then when you mess up, you like to call it out to the audience… you just like to keep going. And, so, it’s like a separate lane in my life, you know? If that makes sense. It’s not like acting, it’s not like directing. It’s nothing like any of those other things. I mean, it really isn’t. It’s kind of wild.

TD: Do you find it fulfilling in a different way than those aspects of your career?

EB: Yes. I still am trying to entertain people and I’m still trying to create emotion from people, you know, whether it’s laughing or crying or whatever. So that’s true of all of the work that I do. But I will say getting to interact with real people and seeing how the show affects their life is a special privilege. It’s really exciting.

TD: What would your strategy be as a contestant on this show?

EB: Okay, it’s all about passing the spins in the front game (laughs). Okay. I’m sorry. It’s all about that. There are two types of people that do the show. There are the people that want to keep the buttons, you know, the spins to themself. So like they wanna hit the button and then there are people who know that they should pass it to someone else and let that person take their chance with the board. I am definitely a pass person. I’m not like “let’s just keep going and see if I can just keep racking it up and never see a whammy.” I’m someone who’s like, the whammy is coming for me! (laughs) Let me get in second place and pass my spins to number one and hope that they whammy. And I think you’ve got a 50-50 chance, maybe worse, but like, I don’t wanna be the one to hit the whammy. It’s the worst feeling in the world. I’d rather lose to someone who’s winning than lose to the whammy.

TD: It sounds like you’ve seen enough now you know that the whammy is coming for everybody.

EB: Every once in a while. It doesn’t, but mostly it does (laughs).

TD: It’s always amazing when it doesn’t though.

EB: It’s the greatest feeling in the world, but it’s very rare.

Elizabeth Banks is Emmy-eligible for Outstanding Host for a Game Show for Press Your Luck.

Photo: John Fleenor/ABC