Elizabeth Dean Lail (born March 25, 1992) is an American actress. She played

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna of East Anglia, King (died c.654) * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th c ...

in the fantasy series ''

Once Upon a Time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 in storytelling in the English language and has started many narrative ...

'' (2014) and

Guinevere Beck ''You'' is an American psychological thriller novel series, written by Caroline Kepnes, and television series, developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, following bookshop owner Joe Goldberg in a satire of romantic comedies, as he struggles ...

in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

thriller series ''

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

'' (2018–2025). She also starred in the horror films ''Countdown'' (2019) and ''

Five Nights at Freddy's ''Five Nights at Freddy's'' (''FNaF'') is a video game series and media franchise created by Scott Cawthon that includes video games, novels, graphic novels, and films. The story arcs typically follow a night guard or other character trying t ...

'' (2023).

Early life

Lail was born in

Williamson County, Texas Williamson County (sometimes abbreviated as "Wilco") is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 609,017. The 2024 population estimate was 727,480. Its c ...

, and grew up in

Asheboro, North Carolina Asheboro is a city in and the county seat of Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,156 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Greensboro- High Point Metropolitan Area of the Piedmont Triad and is home of the st ...

. She became interested in acting at age 14, after playing a small role in a community theater production of ''

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Dor ...

''. After graduating from Asheboro High School in 2010, she attended the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is a public art school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants a high school diploma, in addition to both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina Sc ...

, graduating with a B.F.A. degree in Drama in May 2014.

Career

Lail mostly worked in student short film productions, such as ''Model Airplane'' and ''Without'', while in university from 2011 to 2014. She had moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to pursue stage work when she landed an audition for ABC's ''

'', after which she was cast as

in the fourth season of the series, released in 2014. Lail was cast in a starring role in the 2016 Freeform horror series '' Dead of Summer'', playing the role of camp counselor Amy. In 2017, Lail was cast as Guinevere Beck in the Lifetime/

television series ''

'', opposite

Penn Badgley Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and Joe Goldberg in the Netflix psychological thriller series ''Y ...

and

Shay Mitchell Shannon Ashley Garcia "Shay" Mitchell (born April 10, 1987) is a Canadian actress and entrepreneur. She rose to prominence for her role as Emily Fields in the mystery thriller drama series ''Pretty Little Liars'' (2010–2017), which earned h ...

. Released in 2018, she received a nomination for Best Actress in Streaming Presentation at the

45th Saturn Awards The 45th Saturn Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genres belonging to genre fiction in film, television, home entertainment, and lo ...

. Lail reprised her role as Guinevere Beck in guest appearances on the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

, fourth, and fifth seasons of ''You''. Lail played the lead, Quinn Harris, in the 2019 horror film ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

''. In March 2021, Lail was set to play the title role of Mack in the comedy film '' Mack & Rita'' opposite Diane Keaton; she also joined the cast of the

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

teen drama ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series created and developed by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and based on the series of novels of the same name by Cecily von Ziegesar. It follows a group of students on Manhattan's ...

'', in the recurring role of Lola Morgan. The same month, it was revealed that Lail had joined the cast of the NBC drama series ''

Ordinary Joe ''Ordinary Joe'' is an American drama television series that ran from September 20, 2021 to January 24, 2022 on NBC. The series, produced by 20th Television and Universal Television, is co-developed and co-executive produced by Garrett Lerner a ...

''. In January 2023, Lail was cast as Vanessa in the

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

of ''

'', which premiered in October of that same year to commercial success.

Personal life

In April 2021, Lail married dentist Nieku Manshadi at Hasbrouck House in Stone Ridge, New York.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lail, Elizabeth 1992 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from North Carolina American film actresses American television actresses Living people People from Asheboro, North Carolina People from Williamson County, Texas University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni Year of birth missing (living people)