Actress Elizabeth Anne "Lizzy" Caplan was born in Los Angeles, California, to Barbara (Bragman), a political aide, and Richard Caplan, a lawyer. She has two older siblings, Julie and Benjamin, and was raised in a Jewish household. Her mother was a cousin of publicist Howard Bragman. Caplan was educated at Alexander Hamilton High School, where she showed an interest in acting and was cast in school plays.
After graduating, Caplan made her onscreen debut in the TV movie From Where I Sit (2000). Other roles followed in TV shows such as Freaks & Geeks (1999), Smallville (2001) and The Pitts (2003). Caplan made her big screen debut with a small role in Orange County (2002) and went on to play Janis Ian in the hit Lolita malgré moi (2004). Further successes include Cloverfield (2008), La machine à démonter le temps (2010) and 127 heures (2010).
More recently, Caplan has played Virginia Johnson in the television series Masters of Sex (2013), for which she received an Emmy nomination. She also co-starred in the film L'interview qui tue! (2014), and will appear with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the still The Night Before - Secret Party (2015).
