I LOVE Elizabeth Banks. I rarely get to talk about her, but I think she’s one of the coolest ladies in Hollywood these days. She’s smart, she’s sassy, she’s talented, she works on a wide variety of projects and she’s a passionate advocate for issues that many celebrity women are afraid to take up, like reproductive choice and Planned Parenthood. Anyway, my excuse to talk about Banks this week is her new interview in New You Magazine. Some highlights:

Sex and shame: “It’s a huge disservice to young people to put shame into the equation. That’s what bothers me the most about it and why I speak so openly about sex. I promote safe sex, always, and abstinence until you are madly in love. But at the same time I have no desire to shame any young person about what’s going on in their life or about general sexuality or their bodies.”

The work/motherhood balance: “I balance it by always putting my children’s health and safety first. Then I feel OK to go and do the job I love. It’s important to remember that I face the same challenges as many other working parents out there. I don’t think dads do it as well as moms, quite frankly, as I don’t think there’s any pressure on them to balance anything in their lives when it comes to parents being at work. I try not to feel that pressure, either. I actually have a girlfriend who works in the justice department, going after criminals and the mafia, and she’s got three kids. Parenting is challenging any way you slice it.”

Never believing she was pretty: “Your funny gets developed pretty early on. I didn’t quite believe I was pretty for a long time. I never thought about it. I’m very genetically blessed, I cannot deny it, but I work hard at keeping myself together. Yes, I have nice cheekbones and skinny legs but I can’t take any credit for it.”

[From New You & Us Weekly]

Don’t you love her? I’m in love with her. She’s so un-Goopy. She talks about working motherhood by acknowledging that every mom feels pressure and by pointing out that society doesn’t make dads feel those same pressures. And I love what she says about shame and sex. There is so much of that going on in politics today, but let’s be real: it’s been happening in politics for decades, for centuries. It’s always “good politics” to shame young people (specifically young women) for having sex.

Incidentally, y’all: Elizabeth’s next projecs is DIRECTING Pitch Perfect 2. She produced the first one and she’s going to helm the sequel. I’m so proud of her!

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.