JessicaBiel
JessicaClaire Biel (5' 8" (1.73 m) born March 3, 1982) is an American actress,model, and occasional singer. Biel is known for her television role as MaryCamden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven. She has alsoappeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, The Texas ChainsawMassacre, The Illusionist, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and The A-Team.
JessicaClaire Biel was born in Ely, Minnesota. Her mother, Kimberly (née Conroe), is ahomemaker and spiritual healer. Her father, Jonathan Biel, worked for GE andwas also an entrepreneur and business consultant. She is of German, French,English, and Choctaw ancestry and has a younger brother, Justin, born in 1985.Biel's family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Texas,Connecticut, and Woodstock, Illinois, before finally settling in Boulder,Colorado. While growing up, Biel played soccer and also trained as a gymnast.She is also an avid snowboarder. From 2000 to 2002, she attended Tufts Universityin Medford, MA.
Bielinitially trained to be a vocalist, and from age nine appeared in severalmusical productions in her hometown, playing lead roles in productions such asAnnie, The Sound of Music, and Beauty and the Beast.
At twelve,Biel attended The International Modeling and Talent Association conference inLos Angeles where she was discovered and signed by a talent agency. She beganmodeling for print advertisements, and appeared in commercials for productssuch as Dulux Paint and Pringles.
Biel alsoplayed the character Regrettal, a lead role in a low-budget musical shorttitled It's a Digital World, but the film was never released. At fourteen,after auditioning for several television pilots, Biel was cast as Mary Camden,the oldest daughter in the family drama 7th Heaven. The show ran 11 seasons,making it the longest-running family drama in U.S. television history.
Biel landedher first feature film role as Peter Fonda's granddaughter in the criticallyacclaimed drama Ulee's Gold, released in 1997. Her performance earned her aYoung Artist Award. In spring 1998, during a break from filming 7th Heaven,Biel starred in I'll Be Home for Christmas, playing the love interest ofJonathan Taylor Thomas.
In 2000,during the fourth season of 7th Heaven, Biel commented that she had grown tiredof playing the wholesome preacher's kid, and blamed the show for giving her asqueaky-clean image, causing her to lose out on a role in American Beauty (thepart went to Thora Birch). In a last-ditch attempt to be released from hercontract, she posed semi-nude for the cover of Gear magazine. The shoot sparkedconsiderable controversy as Biel was still under eighteen at the time. Fans andproducers of 7th Heaven were outraged, and the latter brought legal actionagainst Gear magazine. 7th Heaven producer Aaron Spelling made it clear thatBiel would be staying with the show for the remainder of her contract, althoughBiel appeared in minimal episodes in season five, due to her characterattending college out of state. She has stated that she regrets the Gear shootbut considers it a learning experience.
In 2001,Biel played the love interest of Freddie Prinze, Jr. in the baseball-themedmovie Summer Catch. The next year she starred as promiscuous college studentLara in the ensemble movie The Rules of Attraction, an adaptation of the BretEaston Ellis novel.
Afterleaving 7th Heaven at the end of its sixth season, Biel was cast in her firsttop-billing role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film met with mixedreviews but her performance was praised and it was a commercial success,scoring the number-one spot in its opening week and going on to earn more than$80 million in the U.S.
In 2003,Biel began work on the third installment of the Blade film series, Blade:Trinity. Almost immediately after finishing it in 2004, she headed to Australiato shoot the action-thriller Stealth. Both movies were critical and box officefailures. Stealth had a budget of $130 million but grossed $76 millionworldwide. Biel also made a cameo appearance in the 2004 film Cellular.
Biel wenton to audition for the role of Claire Colburn in the romantic comedyElizabethtown, but the role eventually went to Kirsten Dunst. Biel was insteadcast in a smaller role as Ellen Kishmore. She then played the title characterin the indie film London.
Biel's filmcareer blossomed when she played a turn-of-the-century duchess in the periodpiece The Illusionist, co-starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. The moviereceived mostly positive reviews and was a turning point for Biel, who hadpreviously played more contemporary roles. She received the Rising Star Awardat the Palm Springs International Film Festival and an Achievement Award at theNewport Beach Film Festival for her performance.
Biel playedan Iraq War veteran in the 2006 film Home of the Brave, a drama about soldiersstruggling to adjust back into society after facing the hardships of war. Herperformance was well-received but the movie was a commercial failure. Afterbeing pulled from theaters twice, it eventually went to DVD in late 2007. Bieland Home of the Brave co-star Samuel L. Jackson were nominated for Prism Awardsfor their performances.
Meanwhile,after a three-year absence from television, Biel returned for what was to bethe series finale of 7th Heaven (the show was later unexpectedly renewed at thelast minute by The CW Television Network). The episode had already beeninitially shot, but producer and creator Brenda Hampton was determined to haveBiel featured in the episode, so Biel agreed to shoot her scenes during a breakfrom filming her upcoming 2007 film Next.
In Next,Biel played alongside Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. She then played in thesummer comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, co-starring Adam Sandlerand Kevin James. Like her earlier film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Chuck andLarry received mixed reviews, but opened its first week at number one at thebox office. Biel also produced and starred in a short film titled Hole in thePaper Sky, which was released in 2008.
Biel wasinvited to announce nominations at both the Golden Globe Awards (with RosarioDawson and Matthew Perry) and the Academy Awards in 2007.
In late2007, Biel signed on to play a stripper in Powder Blue, alongside ForestWhitaker (who also produced the film), Ray Liotta and Patrick Swayze.
At thestart of 2008, Biel shot Easy Virtue, an adaptation of the play by Noël Coward.Like the play, the movie is set in the 1920s and Biel plays young widow Larita,who impulsively marries John Whittaker in France and must face her disapprovingin-laws on returning to England. The film premiered in September 2008 at theToronto International Film Festival. Critics praised Biel for her performance,with Todd McCarthy of Variety saying Biel "more than kept up" withveterans Kristin Scott Thomas and Colin Firth and praising her"sparkling" performance. The Hollywood Reporter described herperformance as "an irresistible force of nature — a kind, witty, supremelyintelligent and beautiful woman who ... is capable of rejoinders thatthoroughly undercut her opponent's withering criticism."
In 2009,Biel lent her voice to the animated science-fiction film Planet 51.
In April2008, Biel began working on the political satire Nailed, with Jake Gyllenhaal.The movie centers around a woman who accidentally gets a nail lodged in herhead, then travels to Washington D.C. to fight for better health care. Filmingwrapped up in late June after several production shutdowns. She is alsoco-producing and starring in Die a Little, a contemporary adaptation of thenovel by Megan Abbott. A filming start date has not been set.
Bielauditioned for the a cappella choir the Tufts Amalgamates while studying atUniversity but was not accepted.
Bielperformed two songs on the Easy Virtue soundtrack, "Mad About theBoy" and "When the Going Gets Tough".
Bielperformed the role of "Sarah Brown" with the Los Angeles Philharmonicin a fully-staged concert production of Guys and Dolls during the 2009 seasonat the Hollywood Bowl. On the last night, she received a rousing standingovation from 17,000 people.
Biel alsolanded a part in Lincoln Center Theater's two-week-long workshop of the musicalversion of the Pedro Almodóvar classic Women on the Verge of a NervousBreakdown, along with Salma Hayek.
On July 18,2006, Biel participated in a charity auction to raise medical funds forColorado teen Molly Bloom, who was injured in a limousine accident. JohnSchiffner of Fergus Falls, Minnesota successfully bid $30,000 to have lunchwith Biel. "I promise I'm a cheap date," Biel quipped. Biel andSchiffner lunched at The Palm restaurant in Denver, Colorado on August 18,2006.
In early2007, Jessica co-founded the Make the Difference Network with her father andanother business partner, Kent McBride. Make the Difference Network (MTDN) is acause-oriented social network that connects non-profit organizations withpotential donors and increases the awareness for small-to-medium non-profitorganizations. MTDN's mission is to democratize giving by increasing the visibilityof thousands of non-profit organizations and empowering potential donors tosearch, select, and fund these organizations' specific "wishes" andthen to see the results of their giving. Make the Difference Network was alsofeatured at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative, where they made a commitment todemocratize giving through the use of a social network.
In 2010,Biel climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro with members of the UnitedNation Foundation to raise awareness of the global water crisis. Also in 2010,Biel's humanitarian and charity work (as well as her popularity with youngpeople) earned her a nomination for a Do Something Award. The awards show,produced by VH1, is dedicated to honoring people who do good and is powered byDo Something, an organization that aims to empower, celebrate, and inspireyoung people.
Biel datedactor Adam LaVorgna from 1998 to 2001. They were co-stars in the film I'll BeHome for Christmas and on 7th Heaven. She dated actor Chris Evans from 2001 toJune 2006, and appeared opposite him in the films Cellular and London.She hasalso been romantically linked to actor Ryan Reynolds, and baseball player DerekJeter. She started dating JustinTimberlake in 2007, however, they broke up in March 2011.
