Hooking up with JT made her a tabloid target,
but Jessica Biel hasn't let it get her down. From Pringles to Emmys, and a couple of kids
in between, this former teen dream is fully embracing her 40s and doing it her way.
Thanks to her talent, ambition, and drive,
Biel got her first job as an actor in a Pringles Chip commercial when she was just 11 years old.
"This is actually what got me the job." "I bet it is. Yes!"
She told Harper's Bazaar,
"I was just one of those kids who begged and begged. 'Take me to this commercial-acting
class.' 'Take me to this play.' 'Take me to this audition.' And my parents just supported it."
Shortly after the commercial, Biel won a scholarship to the Young Actor's Space
School where she studied for several years before landing the role of Mary Camden in
7th Heaven. Her Hollywood break was thanks in part to the help of her parents, who supported
her acting dream while raising Biel's younger brother. Speaking to Vogue, Biel recalled,
"It was stressful, for sure: my mom leaving my brother when he was so little for months at a
time; my dad having to deal on his own. Sometimes I look back and think, God, you guys were crazy
for letting some twelve-year-old do what she wanted. I mean, they did everything for me."
A grateful Biel looks back fondly on her childhood. On a segment of The Ellen Show,
where her Pringles commercial was featured, Biel joked:
"Man, I've really come up in the world."
Biel is often remembered for her years as Mary Camden on 7th Heaven. The show follows
a minister and his wife and the trials and tribulations of raising their seven
children. Biel played the oldest daughter for six straight seasons before making
guest appearances through Season 10. Decades later, she reflected on the show, telling W,
"That show was fun. I was a basketball player who was going through all the stuff
that a 14-year-old goes through, which is, as you know, completely psychotic."
"When we were playing basketball last night,
Simon tried to block me, and I fell on him, and he called me 'big butt'!"
But Biel admitted playing a character in a religious household wasn't always
easy when she herself was a rebellious teenager. She found herself constantly
apologizing to producer Aaron Spelling. As she explained to W,
"I cut my hair super short and dyed it blonde. I had
to apologize [...] for doing that. He wasn't happy. When I turned 17 or 18,
a really obnoxious friend sent a stripper to the set. I had to apologize for that
too. The show was all about family values, and they took that position seriously."
In 2000, when she was just 17, Biel posed in tiny shorts and nothing else for the cover of Gear,
a former men's magazine. Though the photos weren't published until she turned 18,
the move proved to be the most controversial decision of her career.
In the accompanying profile, the magazine asked Biel if the racy pics could lead
to her being fired from 7th Heaven. Gear quoted Biel's cheeky response, which was:
"I hope so."
The photo spread sent the tabloids into a tailspin, with Stephen Collins,
who played her father on the show, telling the Daily News at the time:
"She's 17, a minor. And as such, Jessica's photo spread was child pornography."
When asked about the shoot on the podcast Awards Chatter,
Biel denied that she had ulterior motives for posing topless, insisting,
"It definitely wasn't a calculated move on my part. I was not that smart to be
making these calculated moves. [...] I said yes to things that probably I
should've said no to. It was just one of those things that got out of hand."
In 2002, Biel left 7th Heaven to finish her college education,
returning only for a few guest appearances. But after her second year at Tufts University,
she moved back to Los Angeles to pursue roles in feature films. She tried her hand at romantic
comedy alongside Freddie Prinze Jr. in the 2001 film Summer Catch and played a supporting
role in Rules of Attraction, but both films garnered lackluster reviews at the box office.
"Name?" "Jessica,
obviously. I'm Jessica Biel." "Hmmmm."
"From Stealth. Summer Catch? Rules of Attraction? Nothin'?"
It wasn't until Biel's role in the horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre that her
riskier choices began to pay off. The film was a hit and led to the
actor being offered roles in more action and adventure-themed thrillers. The early 2000s
saw her fighting vampires in 2004's Blade: Trinity and playing a fighter pilot opposite
Jamie Foxx in the 2005 movie Stealth. While Biel was expanding her resume as an actor,
people started to take her more seriously after her role in The Illusionist.
"You're lucky, you know. To have broken free, as you did."
Biel's comedic talents also shone when she earned rave reviews for her role
in the 2009 film Easy Virtue. This led to several more box-office successes,
including the comedy Valentine's Day. But she continued to exercise her dramatic skill with
a solid performance in the film Hitchcock and more good work in quality indie films
So far, Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel's 10-year marriage has withstood the test of time,
and of course, Hollywood. The pair first met in 2007,
fresh off of Timberlake's split with Cameron Diaz and Biel's breakup with Derek Jeter.
She kept quiet about the relationship at the time, telling British Vogue,
"Justin Timberlake is the one part of my life that I own."
The two dated for years, then briefly broke up in 2011, but got back together a few months later.
The couple got engaged that same year at their
former Montana home. Biel recalled the proposal on The Late Late Show, saying,
"And we go up to the property to just check out how the foundation is looking. And all
of a sudden, he gets down onto his knees and just sinks into the snow."
She described the scene as "the most lovely surprising hilarious" moment.
"I'm married to Jessica Biel!"
"True dat." "Mm!"
They tied the knot the following year in a private ceremony in Southern Italy. In
an interview with People magazine, Biel recalled,
"I had a little bit of butterflies. I was about to stand up in front of my
friends and family and bare my soul for the person I love. It was terribly emotional."
Biel didn't go the traditional route, choosing to walk down the aisle in a
light pink Giambattista Valli Haute Couture gown with Timberlake in a Tom Ford tuxedo.
"I am a married woman now, which, I mean, I’m sure that, you know,
you can't flirt with me like you did last time. We got that clear, right?"
Like many celebrities, Biel is no stranger to giving back. She's been involved in a
multitude of charities throughout her career, and founded and ran the Make The Difference
Network with her father. The charity connected nonprofits with a network of
potential donors and also helped market small to medium-sized nonprofits to the rest of the world.
In an effort to support the clean water cause worldwide,
Biel climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010 alongside members of the United Nations Foundation. She
later joined Charity Water and was honored with the Impact Award at Variety's 2012
"Power of Women" awards. Biel also partnered with Saundra Pelletier, the founding CEO of
WomanCare Global, which educates women on contraceptives, sex, and the female body.
Biel and Timberlake welcomed their first child in 2015. However, their plans for natural childbirth
didn't turn out as expected. Biel opened up about the experience in Connie Simpson's The
Nanny Connie Way: Secrets to Mastering the First Four Months of Parenthood, sharing,
"We had two midwives, one doula, one meditation birthing class,
a ton of hippie baby books, and a lovely home in the Hollywood Hills
that we had turned into a labor training facility that we called the Octagon."
"And how many of you are planning on using toxic Western medications
to drug your baby for your own selfish comfort?"
The couple instead ended up rushing to the hospital for
an emergency C-Section. Despite the unexpected circumstances,
Silas arrived as a healthy baby boy. Biel described him to Today, saying,
"He is a ham, just like his dad — serious ham. He thinks
everything is funny. He goofs on me all the time."
In speaking with E! News, Biel shared how
motherhood has changed her life and her work, saying,
"I just feel like I'm always ready for anything and everything at this
point. [...] I'm more emotional, more sensitive, more everything to the world."
"This is your first child, yes?" "First."
"Okay. Depending on how the twos go, maybe only?" "That's right."
Jessica Biel doesn't only show off her talent in front of the screen. She not
only starred in but executive produced the USA Network series The Sinner. The series
is based on a novel by Petra Hammesfahr, and the first season revolves around a
mother who randomly stabs a stranger to death, resulting in a journey to unlock
her missing memories surrounding the incident and her Catholic upbringing.
In an interview with Variety around the show's premiere, Biel said,
"Sometimes you just got to do it yourself. [...] I
have this opportunity to develop this material with my producing partners,
be a part of the casting process, work with the writers, work with our creator,
and really be hands-on with the character arcs. As a creative person, that's the gold."
"I'm definitely feeling the pull of being behind the camera a lot more these days."
Biel earned an Emmy nod for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Series Or Movie
for her performance in the dark psychological drama. Her co-star
Bill Pullman praised her work in the series, telling People:
"She worked really intentionally there for the first season and now she comes
back as producer. It's always really distinctive to have someone who is a
leader that senses that a big part of her job is to kind of uplift and empower."
The Sinner premiered in 2017 and ran for four seasons on USA network.
Unbeknownst to the rest of the world, Biel and Timberlake welcomed their second child,
Phineas, during the Covid lockdown. The two kept the news of their second son
private until the following January when Timberlake sat down for The Ellen Show.
"Wait. We have a child? We have a child? Wait."
The singer was overjoyed about the new addition, telling DeGeneres at the time:
"He's awesome and so cute. Nobody's sleeping. But we're
thrilled [...] and couldn't be happier. Very grateful."
Biel opened up about the birth on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast, explaining,
"I had, like, a secret COVID baby. It wasn't like it was supposed to be a secret. It was,
just COVID happened, and then I went to Montana with my family and never left."
Biel admitted that having a baby during a global pandemic was tough,
but Timberlake was in the delivery room to help ease her mind.
As for whether or not her two sons will go into show business,
Biel is keeping an open mind. As she told Shepard,
"My knee-jerk reaction is 'Oh God, no. Please no.' But then, I look at these kids and I'm
like, [...] 'They're probably going to be musical.' What are we going to do? Like,
not let them play the piano? Or not let them take a voice lesson if that's their passion?"
Age is but a number, right? At least that's what Jessica Biel thinks. She admitted that
she feels she's only getting better since she turned 40. As she expressed on The View,
"I just felt 'This is a good movement into a new decade. I accept who I am and I feel good."
She went on to admit that saying goodbye to her thirties didn't leave her feeling
at all nostalgic. On the contrary, she feels more confident than ever.
Biel rang in her 40th birthday with her loved ones, celebrating the day
with Justin Timberlake and their two sons. She took to Instagram
to commemorate the occasion with a photo of her and her children writing:
"Thinking of birthdays past and remembering all the amazing ones Justin and I spent solo. Now
celebrating 40 with [cake and balloons] with my other two favorite guys on the
planet. Love you family. Thanks for all the birthday love. 40 feels fresh y'all."