Born on Jun 5, 1977 in New Jersey, USA.

To be cute in a girl-next-doorsy sort of way in Hollywood usually augurs a career marked by one or two starring roles and numerous non-descript bit roles, all in films that typically go straight to video or cable. And as of the year 2000, that long, hard road to underexposure is just where sad-eyed, top-heavy, 20-year-old Liza Weil seems to be heading: she's had her starring role in 1998's angsty, message-heavy, straight-to-cable coming-of-age flick Whatever, a non-descript bit role in 1999's quick-to-cable Stir of Echoes, and several other isolated appearances in various TV shows. As good as she was in those films, though — in Whatever it seemed she did most of the acting with her eyes alone and still carried the film — my guess is that if one doesn't keep close tabs on Liza's career with stalker-like zeal, chances are one will miss it entirely.

But there's a ray of hope in this otherwise gloomy forecast: Liza now has a recurring (albeit minor) role on the WB's Gilmore Girls as the bitchy nemesis of one its heroines, a rare stroke of luck that probably had something to do with the show's executive producer also having been a producer of Stir of Echoes. If the show doesn't get yanked too soon from lack of interest (it's gotten favorable reviews, and Liza's very funny in it, but the cutesy-clever banter hasn't won over very many viewers), the extra exposure could well lead to bigger parts in more unsuccessful to moderately successful films, and one day, God willing, grant her a shot at Lili Taylor-like semi-fame. We can only hope.

Also sprach Golem.
(More recent commentary below)

A Note About Liza’s Biographical Info
Since posting this page, some of the drier facts like Liza's date of birth have come into dispute. An angry emailer claiming to be Liza's sister insists, for example, that Liza was not born January 4, 1980 in Los Angeles (as posted at IMDB.com), but June 5, 1978 in New Jersey. The articles posted here from Zap2it.com and Dallas Morning News, on the other hand, place her birth in 1977, and the cast bio at WB.com says she was born in New Jersey but grew up in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. So for the time being, I'll be using the birth date from Dallas Morning News and birthplace from WB.com until something more authoritative come along, but take your pick.

Whither Now the Cast of Gilmore Girls?
Friday, May 18, 2007
Now that CW has finally rid itself of Gilmore Girls (along with 7th Heaven and Veronica Mars) and filled the vacuum with more reality show dreck, what will become of Stars Hollow’s newly unemployed?... Read more

Apostatization
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
The handful of people out there who still watch Gilmore Girls already know that the show has been ailing for quite a while now. They also know that the new season, the first one without the show’s creator, will probably be the least — and last — of the series.... Read more

Leaving Lorelai
Monday, September 11, 2006
As I’m pretty much the only person I know who regularly watches The WB’s CW’s critically acclaimed but otherwise ignored Gilmore Girls, I had come to believe that I was alone in my frustrations with the show. That is, until Entertainment Weekly published a reader’s open Dear John letter:... Read more

The Lone Driftwood in a Sea of Banality
Thursday, December 30, 2004
While decrying the faux wit of TV show humanities professors today (Prof. Grace McCallister of Jack & Bobby in particular), The New York Times granted a possible exception to the late professor Asher Fleming of Gilmore Girls, “but only because he was sleeping with Paris Geller (played by Liza Weil), the greatest comic character currently on television.”... Read more

The Gathering Dust On My TV Remote
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
I know I’ve complained about this before, but it seems especially true this season than it has in previous seasons: Gilmore Girls, while it’s always been obnoxiously cutesy, has been offering precious little else this time around.... Read more

Last Chance for Proof
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Liza Weil’s last performance in her hometown’s community theater production of Proof (which stars Liza and her father, Marc Weil) comes today.... Read more

Paris Restored
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
Looks like I may have spoken too soon — In tonight’s episode, the old Paris was back, and the writing in general was a lot better than it was in those first two episodes. Thank God.... Read more

The Looting of Paris
Tuesday, October 7, 2003
After an iffy, sans Paris season premiere a couple weeks ago that was disappointingly more contrived than clever in its cutseyness, Gilmore Girls, now in its fourth (!) season, was uncharacteristically weak in its second episode as well.... Read more

Gilmore Girls in Fall 2003
Friday, September 5, 2003
After three seasons, Paris and Rory finally shed their school uniforms.... Read more

Best Episode Ever ... But Who’s Watching?
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
Well, despite all predictions (including my own), Gilmore Girls remains on the air after three seasons (I think) — and I couldn’t be happier. Especially after last week’s episode, which saw not only what was probably Liza Weil’s best performance ever, but the best performance of the entire series as well.... Read more

More Paris, Less Liza?
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Is it just me, or has every actress with a C cup or above since Jennifer Connelly’s gaunt appearance at the Academy Awards gone on some sort of breast-reducing starvation diet?... Read more

From Contrived Bitch to Lovable Psycho
Friday, February 15, 2002
As much as critics used to goof on Dawson’s Creek for its high school characters who all talk like 30-year-old script writers in therapy, most people nevertheless seemed to like the age-inappropriate dialog along with the rest of the show. The same hasn’t been true, though, for the dialog-intensive Gilmore Girls, in which even the lowlifes are better read than most literature professors and everyone talks like they’re in The House of Yes.... Read more

Film

• Dragonfly (2002) .... Suicide Girl
• Motel Jerusalem (2001) .... Sally Mae
• Stir of Echoes (1999) .... Debbie Kozac
• Whatever (1998) .... Anna Stockard
• A Cure for Serpents (1997; AtomFilms.com) .... Lucy

• ER: “Beyond Repair” (1/10/2002) .... Samantha Sobricki
• Gilmore Girls (2000-) .... Paris Geller
• ER: “All In The Family” (2/17/2000) .... Mrs. Paul Sobricki
• The West Wing: “Take Out The Trash Day” (1/26/2000) .... Karen Larson
• The Adventures of Pete & Pete: “35 Hours” (1993) .... Margie Corsell

• Lullaby (2002) .... Rane

Cyber Temples

• Liza Weil List
• Liza Weil Celebrity Movie Reviews
  Mr. Skin
  Bio, filmography, and stills and clips from her films
• The Liza Weil Network

Miscellaneous

• From Cyberspace With Love...
  Got a problem with any of the things written on this page? You're not alone...
• Liza Weil for The Sims 2
  An attempt at making Liza into a Sim
• AtomFilms: A Cure for Serpents
  “No dirt. No touching. No germs. No life.” A short film featuring Liza in RealPlayer and Windows Media Player formats.
• Liza Weil Filmography
  Internet Movie Database
  Always up-to-date filmography
• Sony Picture Classics: Whatever
  Official movie site with pictures, clips, cast bios, and more
• Liza Weil
  Wikipedia
  Liza Weil in wikireality
• Wild Wild South: The Films of Dorne Pentes
  The place to buy, among other things, Liza's film Lullaby