Jessica Biel

Jessica Biel
Biel at the Gen Art Premiere and Party for The Illusionist.
Birth name	Jessica Clara Biel
Born	March 3 1982 (age 26) Ely, Minnesota, United States
Years active	1992 — present
Official site	http://www.jessebiel.com

Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3 1982) is an American actress and former model, who has appeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Illusionist, as well as for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven.

Biography

Early life

Biel was born in Ely, Minnesota, the daughter of Kimberly "Kim" (née Conroe) and Jonathan Edward Biel, an entrepreneur.^[1] Biel, who has a younger brother, Justin, grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where her family had moved when she was very young. She is of Choctaw, German, French, and English descent.^[2]

Biel initially trained to become a vocalist with the hope of performing in musical theater and appeared in several musicals at an early age including The Sound of Music, Annie, Beauty and the Beast and Anything Goes. It was not until Biel attended the International Modeling and Talent Association Convention in Los Angeles in 1994 when her career started to take off as a fashion model.

Rise to fame (1996-2002)

Biel's first big break came when at 14 years old she landed the role of Mary Camden on the WB TV Series 7th Heaven. The family drama from Aaron Spelling and Brenda Hampton became the most popular series on the fledgling network. Jessica's film career also began at age 15 when she played alongside Peter Fonda in his Golden Globe winning performance in Ulee's Gold (1997). Aside from acting, Jessica became a spokesmodel for L'Oréal cosmetics in 2002.

In 2000, Biel posed topless in a layout of Gear magazine, although she did not actually appear frontally nude. It was nonetheless controversial because she was only 17 at the time of the shoot. Her frustration and fear about being typecast was one of the reasons that led to her decision. She blamed her saintly image on 7th Heaven for limiting her film career, including losing a lead role in American Beauty, which eventually went to Thora Birch. Jessica also hoped that by posing she would get out of her 7th Heaven contract, which she accomplished. She later said she regretted posing for the magazine and regards it as a learning experience. Jessica returned to 7th Heaven full time for the 2001—2002 season and then focused her attention on her movie career and has made minimal TV appearances since then. In 2002, she also had a role in the film The Rules of Attraction based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis.

Film stardom (2003-2005)

Biel aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, June 15, 2004 on Stealth set.

After her departure from 7th Heaven, she accepted the role of Erin Hardesty in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). The movie was met with moderate critical attention, but was successful commercially making over 80 million dollars stateside with its 9 million dollar budget. She has also had starring roles in Blade: Trinity (2004) and Stealth (2005), the latter of which was a box-office flop, losing $99 million USD. In March 2005, casting for Revolution Studios's big-budget remake of John Carpenter's The Fog was underway. Biel was rumored to be up for the part of Elizabeth Solley (a part originated by scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis). Later reports stated Biel did not want to do any more horror films. The role eventually went to Maggie Grace of Lost.^[3] Turning down the role proved to be a wise move: the remake was a box office flop as the film was nearly universally panned for its shallow plot and poor acting. As of January 2006, the film has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 5%. After a nearly three year absence, Jessica surprised her fans by making one final appearance in the series finale of 7th Heaven in May 2006. The series was later renewed, at last minute, for an 11th and, as it turned out, final season. Biel did not make any future appearances in the show.

Breakthrough (2006-present)

After several indifferent feature films, her film career finally blossomed when she played a turn-of-the-century duchess in The Illusionist (2006), which received good reviews and generated a profit at the box office.^[4] In 2006, she also starred Home of the Brave, about soldiers returning from Iraq,^[5] premiered in Los Angeles on December 5, 2006.^[6] She next co-starred opposite Adam Sandler and Kevin James in the comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which went to number one at the box office, making 34 million dollars in its opening weekend, followed by Next, which also starred Nicholas Cage and Julianne Moore. She is slated to appear in at least two more films in 2008: A Woman of No Importance, based on the play by Oscar Wilde about a woman's past which comes back to haunt her when the man who left her with a child becomes the potential employer of their illegitimate son. Taking over Lindsay Lohan's part, it is set to begin filming in the fall of 2007. She'll also appear in Powder Blue, opposite Forest Whitaker, about four desperate individuals who intersect in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. She was supposedly offered the role of Wonder Woman in the upcoming Justice League film, but (according to one report) she turned the role down.^[7] She signed up United Artists's upcoming movie Die a Little.

Personal life

Biel at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego Bay, July 17, 2005

Biel attended the exclusive private Lycée Français de Los Angeles high school but graduated from Concord High School in Santa Monica, CA. In fall 2000, she enrolled in an undergraduate study at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. During Biel’s freshman year she dated Steve Cincotta, who was also enrolled as a freshman at Tufts and played on the football team. Cincotta would eventually get drafted by the New England Patriots in the 6th round of the 2004 NFL draft. Biel and Concotta parted ways during their days at Tufts and she moved on to date more prominent athletes such as Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. Having attended Tufts during fall 2000, spring 2001 and fall 2002 semesters, she left before completing a degree program to concentrate on her acting career.

Biel's hobbies include ballet, soccer, running and yoga. Biel currently resides in Los Angeles. She dated actor Chris Evans from 2001 to 2006, with at least one time "off" during that period.^[8] Together, they appeared in the films London and Cellular. She also dated other actors, Adam LaVorgna, who portrayed the character of Robbie in 7th Heaven, for about two years and briefly Rey-Phillip Santos. Jessica had been linked to New York Yankees star shortstop Derek Jeter.^[9][10][11]

In January 2007, Biel was linked to Justin Timberlake when pictures surfaced of the two snowboarding in Park City, Utah during the Sundance Film Festival. On May 12, 2007, the gossip was refueled with the release of romantic pictures of Timberlake and Biel on multiple dates, specifically caught kissing while dining in the UK accompanied by producer/mogul Timbaland and then Manchester United footballer Alan Smith. Since then, both Timberlake and Biel have publicly acknowledged their relationship, choosing not to comment in further detail.

Charity work

On July 18, 2006, Biel participated in a charity auction to raise medical funds for Colorado teen Molly Bloom, who was injured in an auto accident. John Schiffner of Fergus Falls, Minnesota successfully bid $30,000 to have lunch with Biel. "I promise I'm a cheap date," Biel quipped. Biel and Schiffner lunched at Denver's The Palm restaurant.^[12] on August 18, 2006.^[13]

Awards

• 1998: Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress in Ulee's Gold
• 2005: ShoWest Award Female Star of Tomorrow - 2005 ShoWest Convention
• 2007: Rising-star Award - Palm Springs International Film Festival 2007 Gala Awards

Rankings

• Ranked as #5 on Maxim's Hot 100 for 2007.^[14]
• Ranked #5 by AskMen.com readers in the list "Top 99 Women 2007".
• Esquire magazine named her the "Sexiest Woman Alive" in a 2005 six-part series with each month, revealing a different body part and clue to the woman's identity. One clue given was that her last name rhymes with what sigillographers are interested in (document seals).
• Ranked #98 on VH1's "100 Hottest Hotties".
• Ranked #99 in Stuff magazine's "102 Sexiest Women In The World" (2002).
• Ranked #1 in Stuff magazine's "100 Sexiest Women" (2007).^[15]

Trivia

• In 7th Heaven, Jessica's character, Mary, is one year older than Beverley Mitchell's character, Lucy. In reality, Mitchell is older than Biel by more than a year.
• A noticeable result of the extensive weight training and strict diet Jessica went through in order to play Abigail Whistler in the Blade: Trinity, you can see Jessica's character in her movie, Stealth, very muscular, particularly in the scene where she wears a bikini.

Filmography

Biel on the set of Stealth, 2005

References

Wikipedia information about Jessica Biel This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jessica Biel". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.