Lizzy Caplan’s ‘Cloverfield’ Opens Today!

She's made a career for herself, channeling misfits and quick wits in box-office hits like Mean Girls. Now she's back to battle a different type of evil altogether, in the highly anticipated J.J. Abrams-produced monster smash.

Holy shit! All my eggs are in this one basket!” Lizzy Caplan remembers the revelation—and ensuing panic—that wrestled the 25-year-old actress from her sofa into casting calls. She hadn’t gone to college, hadn’t started acting until high school, and hadn’t given much thought to a future outside of Hollywood. In no time, though, the Los Angeles native landed her first major role as Janis Ian in 2004’s Mean Girls (and, along with it, a whole new demographic of admirers). Caplan then dabbled in television, channeling outsiders in critical darlings like “Freaks and Geeks” and “Once and Again,” where, once again, she moonlit as a lesbian (this time with stick figure Mischa Barton). Of her proclivity for impersonating outcasts, Caplan shrugs, “I’m just more interested in playing the sarcastic third-lead than some boring ingénue.”

This year, expect the classically-trained pianist to eat her words as she steals scenes in the new J.J. Abrams-produced monster smash Cloverfield, an unapologetic, apocalyptic popcorn flick poised to become the biggest blockbuster in recent history. Sworn to secrecy about the plot, she explains, evasively, “The movie is the celebrity. It was almost like we were living in the belly of Julia Roberts, where nobody cared about us. It’s either going to be really good, or really disappointing. I don’t think there’s much chance of a gray area.”

And how does the sardonic brunette intend to prepare for her imminent fame? “I try to avoid the public eye—even on a small scale—whenever possible. I’m really not looking forward to random strangers commenting on my daily comings and goings. It scares the shit out of me, because, 90 percent of the time, I don’t look that nice.” We’d beg to differ, but we’re afraid of what she might do to us.

For the full interview with Lizzy Caplan, click here!