Elizabeth Mathis is an American actress from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. She played Pushy in ''

Blue Crush 2 ''Blue Crush 2'' is a 2011 direct-to-video film directed by Mike Elliott and starring Sasha Jackson, Elizabeth Mathis, Ben Milliken, Chris Fisher, Gideon Emery, and Sharni Vinson. Despite the title, it is not considered to be connected to the 200 ...

'' and Nicole Barnes in ''

Unstoppable Unstoppable may refer to: Film and television * ''Unstoppable'' (2004 film), an American film directed by David Carson * '' Unstoppable: Conversation with Melvin Van Peebles, Gordon Parks, and Ossie Davis'', a 2005 American television documentar ...

''.

Early life

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its southern border with Detroit. The city was originall ...

native, Mathis grew up in the Detroit area where she said she formed a strong bond with her family. She has said, “I'm a definite Midwest kid. I like green grass and playing outside and all of that. My upbringing was very down home.” Mathis briefly participated in beauty pageants, winning Miss Teen Michigan in 1998, though she did not place in the follow up national pageant. Mathis then studied communications and business at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

. While there, she embraced acting and explored her talent off-campus. She later pursued her passion and moved to New York.

Career

After a number of years in background roles ('Irresistible Fantasy Woman #2', 'Hot Girl 2'), with minor roles in two feature films (Tess in 2007’s '' Enchanted'' and Nicole in 2010’s ''

''), Mathis had a major role in the 2011

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

film ''

''. After ''Blue Crush 2'', Mathis appeared in only three more,

, releases; two in 2012 and one in 2015. Mathis went through tough training for her role as Pushy in ''Blue Crush 2'', including learning how to surf, despite having an on-screen surf-double. Mathis worked with her dialect coach for two hours every day in preparation for her role as a native South African. She also took dance lessons and yoga to maintain her already athletic build. ''“I really want to tap into diverse characters,"'' she said. ''"I want to push the limits of myself. And most of all I just want to have fun.”''

Filmography

Television

Films

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Elizabeth Living people American film actresses American television actresses Northwestern University alumni Actresses from Detroit 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)