Photo: Erik Voake/Getty
Elizabeth BanksandMax Handelmanhave been in a decades-long romance.
The actress-filmmaker met her future husband in 1993 when they were both students at the University of Pennsylvania. Ten years later, the actress married her college sweetheart in July 2003.
“It’s the thing I’m most proud of,” Banks told PORTER of their marriage in 2019. “I do think people grow together or they grow apart. We definitely grew together. We were constantly making decisions that kept us close.”
Banks added, “I think there are people that go into marriage thinking: ‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll get divorced.’ That’s not me. You’re going to have bad moments. You’ve committed to something. Do you value it, or don’t you?”
So who is Elizabeth Banks' husband? Here’s everything to know about Max Handelman and his relationship with theCocaine Beardirector.
He met Banks in college
Elizabeth Banks Instagram
After graduating from Catlin Gabel High School in his hometown of Portland, Oregon, in 1991, Handelman went to the University of Pennsylvania, where he met Banks on her first day of college in 1993.
“He was wearing a vest with no shirt … to show off his sexy physique back in the day,” Banks said during a2012 interview onConan. “He looked exactly likeJason Priestlyfrom90210, c’mon.”
Banks continued, “I dated the same guy all throughout high school, and I basically — and he knows this so … this is no surprise to him — cheated on him with my now-husband.”
She also revealed he took her to a jazz club for their first date, referring to it as “the greatest date” of her life.
He has multiple degrees
Kevin Mazur/VF13/WireImage
According to a 2020 interview withPortland Monthly, Handelman studied political communications at UPenn. After graduating, he worked as an investment banker for a few years on Wall Street in New York City and in San Francisco.
At the time, Banks was pursuing her acting career, and Handelman moved back to the Big Apple with her in the late ’90s, when he took a job in the digital ventures group at NewsCorp.
Handelman then attended the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, and received his MBA before venturing into a career in Hollywood.
He co-founded a production company with Banks
Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
While less in the spotlight than his wife, Handelman is a producer in Hollywood, notably working on films like 2009’sSurrogatesand 2017’sThe Most Hated Woman in America. In 2002, Banks “dragged him into the industry,” as she told PORTER. Together, they formed the production company Brownstone Productions.
“He worked an 80-hour week; I was traveling all the time in a career that requires me to film on location for up to six months of the year,'' Banks said. “Forming the company really was about trying to combine our professional and personal goals.”
Banks and Handelman have since teamed up to produce several projects, including thePitch Perfectfilm franchise, theAidy Bryant-led Hulu seriesShrill, 2019’sCharlie’s Angels,Cocaine BearandBottoms.
“We have a lot of respect for each other on every level,” Banks toldAllurein a 2015 cover story before discussingthe “love” and “lust” in her marriage.
Banks opened up toVanity Fairthe following year, sharing that the two not only “like working together,” but are also good at it.
He is a writer
Gregg DeGuire/WireImage
Handelman has worked in various fields throughout his career, even holding the title of a sportswriter.
In 2006, he co-wrote a book about fantasy football with Erik Barmack, titledWhy Fantasy Football Matters: (And Our Lives Do Not).
His writing career eventually led to him producing the first installment in thePitch Perfectmovie series.
He is a huge sports fan
Not only did Handelman pen a book on fantasy football, but he also helped develop the fantasy football sector atFox Sports,per publisher Simon & Schuster.
Fantasy football is something that Banks and Handelman bond over, and, according to a 2007 profile of the actress inGQ, the couple compete in a fantasy league together every year.
In 2019, hetoldThe Oregonianthat he is “a diehard Portland Trail Blazer fan,” as Banks “will grudgingly concede.”
“For my birthday, she very nicely, as a surprise, got me tickets to Game 3 of the Trail Blazer/Nuggets series, second row, for that historic quadruple overtime game,” he said.
His wife also got NBA playerDamian Lillardto send Handelman a happy birthday message — which he “freaked out” over, she said onJimmy Kimmel Livein May 2021.
He dated Banks for 10 years before they wed
The pair dated all throughout college and then some, saying “I do” after a decade of being together.
“I didn’t meet my husband and think, ‘I’ve met the man I’m going to marry,’ " Banks toldAllure. “I was like, He’s cute. I’ll f— him, because I’m 18 and in college.”
She added, “Really, what happened was I’ve never met anyone that 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.”
Banks and Handelman married on July 5, 2003, at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. On their wedding day, they read letters from their first year of dating,InStylereported.
He shares two kids with Banks
On March 30, 2011, Banks and Handelman became parents for the first time with the birth of their son Felix via surrogate.
Banks announced the news on her website, opening up about her fertility struggles.
“I have had untold number of opportunities to work with inspiring people, on great projects as an actress, and I have had a fantastic long term relationship of nearly 20 years with my now husband, Max,” Banks wrote at the time. “The one true hurdle I’ve faced in life is that I have a broken belly.”
Their younger son, Magnus Mitchell, arrived in November 2012.
“Like Felix, Magnus was born via gestational surrogate,” Banks wrote in a since-deleted post on her blog. “This experience has exceeded all expectations, taught us a great deal about generosity and gratitude, and established a relationship that will last a lifetime.”
Banks praised him for being “business-minded”
Gareth Cattermole/Getty
Part of what makes Banks and Handelman such a good team — at work and home — are their complementary personalities.
“We’re pretty yin and yang,” BankstoldThe Producers Guild of Americain September 2016. She added that “he’s very diplomatic and business-minded and calm” while describing herself as “fiery” and “emotional.”
Handelman also suggested their differing creative styles help them to work together more effectively, saying that he takes a “top-down, concept-driven” approach while Banks' is more “bottom-up.”
“When we were looking at how to make a life together, I felt like he was a real bloodhound for material and had a really good eye for things,” BankstoldThe Hollywood Reporterin June 2019 about Handelman’s business acumen.
source: people.com
