Who is Eliza Coupe?
Eliza Coupe is an American actress and comedian, probably best known for her appearance in ABC’s comedy series “Happy Endings”, portraying Jane Kerkovich-Williams, and as Denise “Jo” Mahoney in the medical comedy-drama series “Scrubs”.
Early life
Eliza Kate Coupe was born on 6 April 1981, in Plymouth, New Hampshire, USA, to parents Ernest and Kathryn Coupe. Her ancestors originated in France, England and Scotland before immigrating to the US. Sam and Thom, her two brothers, and she all went to school in the same town in Grafton Count, attending Plymouth Regional High School, matriculating in 1999. Sometime during her childhood, Eliza was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, but this didn’t stop her from acting, as she participated in a number of plays while in high school, before continuing her education at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and graduating in 2006. She took one class at the Groundlings, but after she was discouraged from moving forward, she returned to her family in New Hampshire, before continuing her acting career in New York.
Career
Not including her high school theatre class performances, Eliza’s acting career began in 2003, when she performed as a soldier, in an all-female production of “King Lear” while touring France. If wouldn’t be until two years later that she would do another play, one she had to actually pay for herself. After moving to New York, Eliza developed a routine of purchasing a ticket for the Upright Citizen’s Brigade or the People’s Improv Theatre and sitting through the entire performance to observe the sets and pick up acting techniques.
Take a look at these biffs @thisisTomRiley pic.twitter.com/OMV12oZuk2
— Eliza Coupe (@elizacoupe) May 13, 2014
Since acting wasn’t paying the bills, she worked as a waitress in Times Square, and at one point she was even a bathroom attendant. Even though things weren’t looking up for her at the time, Eliza was keen on performing. Her next step was doing a one-person show, which she made happen thanks to her manager to-be Kirsten Ames. Eliza took her one-person workshop and under the latter’s guidance, eventually performed her five-character, one-person show called “The Patriots” at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in November 2005 – this won her the breakthrough performance award at the 2006 Comedy Festival in Aspen.
She made her on-screen debut in the short film “The Day the World Saved Shane Sawyer” by Jay Delaney. In the romantic comedy “I Think I Love My Wife” the following year, she appeared on screen alongside Kerry Washington, Chris Rock, and Gina Torres. She subsequently made her television series debut in a 2007 episode of HBO’s series “Flight of the Conchords”.
Eliza’s television career really took off in 2008, making appearances in two episodes of ABC’s situational comedy “Samantha Who?”, as well as the pilot episode of the ill-fated Fox sitcom “Unhitched.” She was also cast in the role of Gaylor Shakespeare in HBO’s comedy show “12 Miles of Bad Road” that same year, then in 2009 joined the cast of the medical comedy-drama series “Scrubs” on NBC (later ABC) as the character Denise Mahoney, an apparently harsh and insensitive intern at the Sacred Heart Hospital. In the show’s final season, she was made a series regular, which became one of her best-known roles in her career, as Eliza further played her part in the online television program “Scrubs: Interns”.
Two of the worst people ever run into each other in pilates class — starring @elizacoupe & @YouDonKnowMe pic.twitter.com/NoFwuw88D8
— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) August 13, 2017
Her second cinematic experience was in the comedy-drama film “Somewhere” in 2010. She then portrayed Agent Robin Vohlers in an episode of “Community” in 2011, and Sheila in the rom-com “What’s Your Number?” She then appeared in the short films “Frenemies”, “Frenemies 2 with Eliza Coupe,” and “Manhattan Mixup” in addition to the romantic drama “Shanghai Calling”, all in 2012.
After that, she was selected for a part in the sitcom “Happy Endings”. The David Caspe-produced TV show broadcast on ABC from 13 April 2011 until 3 May 2013, with Coupe playing Jane Kerkovich-Williams, and cast with actors including Elisha Cuthbert, Damon Wayans Jr., Adam Pally, Zachary Knighton,and Casey Wilson. The series was produced in an effort to rival the success of “Friends” and “Seinfeld”, and it did gain a lot of popularity over the course of its three seasons, However, due to the dismal ratings it garnered in the last season, ABC ultimately decided to cancel it.
Eliza next portrayed Nina Whitley in the USA Network comedy-drama show “Benched” in 2014, and then appeared as a recurring character in shows such as “The Millers”, “The Mindy Project”, “Wrecked”, “Superstore” and “Quantico”. She starred in the Hulu series “Future Man” alongside Josh Hutcherson from 2017 up to 2020, and concurrently she also started playing Preggers in Sony Crackle’s web series “Rob Riggle’s Ski Master Academy” in 2018.
In 2020, Eliza starred as Lux in the comedy thriller film “The Estate”, alongside actors Greg Finley and Chris Baker. Two years later, she landed another leading role, this time in the comedy TV series “Pivoting” as Amy, a hardworking producer of a local morning talk show, who tries to spend more time with her kids in spite of her anxiety about being a mom. Her latest appearance was as Nora in an episode of the new sitcom “Reboot”, that started airing in September 2022.
Personal life
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChL9Rr1ukdp/
Eliza Coupe is a survivor of two failed marriages. Her first husband, Randall Whittinghill, was an acting teacher/puppeteer, and despite her once stating that the only reason she married Randall was because of his striking resemblance to actor Johnny Depp, the two were together for 12 years, even dating for six before finally tying the knot in December 2007. Their marriage ended in June 2013, and Eliza was ordered to pay a total of $306,000, not including the two-year spousal support payment of $7,000 per month.
A year later, she announced her engagement via Instagram to lifestyle brand SuperLife founder Darin Olien, on 27 November, and they exchanged vows not even a month later on 24 December, while on vacation in New Zealand. Darin is well known as a nutritionist, supplement formulator, and authority on superfoods. Their marriage was short-lived, however, since her husband filed for divorce four years later in 2018. The details of their divorce remain unclear.
Net worth
Eliza Coupe has an estimated net worth of over $3 million, as of late 2022.
