Background
Mitchell was born in Los Angeles, California. Mitchell and her mother moved to Dallas, Texas in 1970, where her mother married Joseph Mitchell in 1975.
Mitchell was born in Los Angeles, California. Mitchell and her mother moved to Dallas, Texas in 1970, where her mother married Joseph Mitchell in 1975.
Mitchell graduated from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, a public magnet school. She attended Stephens College, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting, and then studied at the British American Drama Academy.
She is best known for her role as Doctor Juliet Burke on the American Broadcasting Company series Lost. She also had lead roles on the television series V and Revolution, and recurred as the Snow Queen on Once Upon A Time in late 2014. Mitchell has starred in such films as The Santa Clause 2 & 3, Gia and The Purge: Election Year.
She is the eldest of three sisters, the others being Kristina Helen "Kristie" Mitchell (b 1977), and Katherine Day "Kate" Mitchell (b 1981).
Mitchell worked for six years in Dallas Center and a year at Encore. Mitchell had a recurring role as psychiatrist Doctor Kim Legaspi, the first lesbian lover of Doctor Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes) during the 2000-2001 season of television series Emergency. Mitchell played in the 2000 movie Frequency (film) alongside Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel.
She also played Angelina Jolie"s hairdresser/lover in the movie Gia. She also had a one episode role in House Doctor of Medicine as a patient.
In March 2009, Mitchell was cast in the American Broadcasting Company series V, a remake of the classic science fiction television miniseries.
Although American Broadcasting Company and Warner Brothers officials told the magazine she was only cast as a guest star, the announcement led to speculation and concern that Mitchell"s character would be killed off at the end of Lost"s fifth season, which ended on a cliffhanger that left the fate of her character unknown. Mitchell was later named the lead actress on V. Mitchell"s character was killed off in the premiere of the sixth (and final) season of Lost, but returned for the two-part series finale. V lasted for one more season, which premiered on January 4, 2011.
Mitchell had a guest starring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2011 where she played June Frye.
Mitchell starred in the film, Answers to Nothing in 2011, where she played Kate. In 2012, she joined the cast of the series Revolution as Rachel Matheson, replacing actress Andrea Roth, whom Mitchell had worked with for one episode on Lost.
The series premiered on September 17, 2012, and ended in May 2014. She then recurred as the Snow Queen on the television fantasy series Once Upon A Time in late 2014.
In 2016, Mitchell starred at Senator Charlene "Charlie" Roan in the science-fiction horror film The Purge: Election Year.
In an interview with Aventura magazine, Mitchell claimed she was just "a dorky kid" when she left Los Angeles for Dallas: "I would finish school in Dallas where my mom was going to law school, and she would make sure I got right over to the Center," says Mitchell. "lieutenant was magic. I loved every second of being there and wanted to sleep on stage. I knew then I wanted to be an actress." Mitchell married actor Chris Soldevilla in 2004, with whom she has a son named Chief Justice, who was born in 2005.
She shares the same birth name as actress Elizabeth Banks, who changed her name to avoid confusion with Elizabeth Mitchell.