Spotlight on: Elizabeth Mitchell

First gracing the television screen in 1993 on the television series Dangerous Curves, Elizabeth Mitchell quickly began an ascent that has taken her to starring in two of the most buzzed about series currently on television: V and Lost.

While few watched her debut into the television arena, she has proven over the years to be an actress who naturally stands-out and makes her presence felt. Not content with a mere wallflower role, she began getting noticed for her steely resistance and stunning good looks. Then, in 1998, she was cast in a ground-breaking role as the lover of Angelina Jolie in  Gia. That was quickly followed by a role in the short-lived TV series Significant Others, in which she co-starred with Jennifer Garner (Alias) and Michael Weatherly (NCIS).

Fortunately, her next project was a feature film Frequency, a sci-fi film starring Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel. Alas, being cast as Dennis Quaid’s wife was not enough to keep her on the big screen and Elizabeth was soon back on television appearing in another short-lived series Time of Your Life, which coincidentally co-starred Jennifer Garner, Pauley Perrette (NCIS), and Jennifer Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer).

Elizabeth Mitchell stars as Juliet on Lost / ABC

Still not finding a secure niche, Elizabeth tackled the role of Dr. Kim Legaspi, the lover of Dr. Kerry Weaver in the hit drama ER. It was during this time period that she fine-tuned her comedic skills by co-starring in the films The Santa Clause, The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3 with comedian Tim Allen. She also balanced her comedic forays by working in the short-lived legal drama The Lyon’s Den which starred Rob Lowe. Bouncing between serious, comedic and earnest 20-something roles, Elizabeth built a fine resume of solid work experience showing off not only her versatility, but her strong work ethic and willingness to step-outside the box to portray strong yet vulnerable women.

It was that more than anything that perhaps brought her to the attention of Lost, where she scored the role of a lifetime, playing the ambiguous, resilient and astoundingly lethal Juliet Burke – and, for the first time, stole the limelight from a popular co-star and claimed the heart of the bad-boy with a heart of gold, James “Sawyer” Ford. Over the course of four seasons, Elizabeth not only stole scenes and attention, she carved out a fanatic fan-base and managed to become the heart and hero of the show. So much so that in May 2009, she literally ended the season with a bang and created one of the biggest cliff-hangers of the series.

Simultaneously, not being one to sit still, Elizabeth managed to sneak off and score one of the most coveted roles of sci-fi television, the part of Erica Evans, the FBI agent in the new hit sci-fi series V. Unlike the morally ambiguous Juliet she plays on Lost, on V Elizabeth is clearly the moral center and is fighting to save the human race. This is ironic, given that she did virtually the same thing on Lost – she may have saved the world by setting off a nuclear bomb and resetting the fractured timeline.

Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica on V / ABC

So with the final season of Lost looming on the horizon and a bright and shiny future beckoning with the series V, Elizabeth seems destined for greatness. With her luminous, poignant and steely portrayals, she has embraced difficult roles and made them her own and won the admiration of the television audience forever.

Elizabeth Mitchell stars in V which airs Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. on ABC. However, V will be on hiatus until March 2010 due the holidays and the winter Olympics. Be sure to tune back in March! Lost returns February 2 at 9/8c on ABC; when V returns in March it will be the lead-in for Lost.