Jessica Claire Timberlake (née
Biel: born March 3, 1982), better known as
Jessica Biel,
is an American actress, model and singer. She began her career as a
vocalist appearing in musical productions until she was cast as
Mary Camden in the family-drama series
7th Heaven, for which she achieved recognition.
[4] The series is the longest-running series that has ever aired on
The WB channel and is the longest-running family drama in television history.
[5] In 1997, she won the
Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actress for her role in
Ulee's Gold.
Biel has since starred in many films, including
The Rules of Attraction (2002),
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003),
Blade: Trinity (2004),
Stealth (2005),
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007),
The A-Team (2010),
New Year's Eve (2011), and
Total Recall (2012). She appeared in the thriller
indie film Emanuel and the Truth about Fishes in 2013.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Career
- 2.1 Career beginnings
- 2.2 1997–2007: career breakthrough
- 2.3 2008–present
- 3 Personal life
- 4 Philanthropy
- 5 Filmography
- 6 Awards and nominations
- 7 References
- 8 External links
Early life
Jessica Biel was born on March 3, 1982, in
Ely, Minnesota.
[3] Her mother, Kimberly (née Conroe), is a
homemaker and
spiritual healer. Her father, Jonathan Biel, worked for
GE and was also an entrepreneur and business consultant.
[6][7][8] She is of
German,
French,
English,
Irish, and
Choctaw ancestry
[9][10] and has a younger brother, Justin, born in 1985.
[11][12] Biel's family moved frequently during her childhood, living in Texas,
Connecticut, and
Woodstock, Illinois, before finally settling in
Boulder, Colorado where she attended
Fairview High School. While growing up, Biel played soccer
[13] and also trained as a gymnast.
[8] From 2000 to 2002, she attended
Tufts University.
[14]
Career
Career beginnings
Biel initially trained to be a vocalist. At age nine, she appeared in
several musical productions in her hometown, playing lead roles in
productions such as
Annie,
The Sound of Music, and
Beauty and the Beast.
[15] At twelve, Biel attended
The International Modeling and Talent Association
conference in Los Angeles where she was discovered and signed by the
Judith Fontaine Modeling & Talent Agency. She began modeling for
print advertisements, and appeared in commercials for products such as
Dulux Paint and
Pringles.
[6] In her film debut, Biel played the character Regrettal, a lead role in the ambitious musical film titled
It's a Digital World, produced and directed by
Paul Greenberg. At fourteen, after auditioning for several television pilots, Biel was cast as
Mary Camden, the second oldest child in the family drama
7th Heaven.
1997–2007: career breakthrough
Biel landed her first feature film role as
Peter Fonda's granddaughter in the critically acclaimed drama
Ulee's Gold, released in 1997. Her performance earned her a
Young Artist Award.
[16] In spring 1998, during a break from filming
7th Heaven, she starred in
I'll Be Home for Christmas, playing the love interest of
Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
[15]
Biel posed topless in the March 2000 issue of
Gear. Producers of
7th Heaven were outraged, and brought legal action against
Gear.
[15] She later stated that she regrets the
Gear shoot but considers it a learning experience.
[17] In 2001, Biel played the love interest of
Freddie Prinze, Jr. in the baseball-themed film
Summer Catch. In 2002, she starred as
promiscuous college student Lara in the ensemble film
The Rules of Attraction, an adaptation of the
Bret Easton Ellis novel. The movie received mixed reviews, became a box office hit and has since gained a Cult following.
[18][19]
Biel was cast in her first top-billing role in
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
[20]
The film met with negative reviews but 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.
[20][21] In 2003, Biel began work on the third installment of the
Blade film series,
Blade: Trinity. Despite negative reviews of the installment, it was a box office hit grossing $150 million worldwide.
[22] Almost immediately after finishing it in 2004, she headed to Australia to shoot the action-thriller
Stealth.
[23]
Biel also appeared in the 2004 film
Cellular. Biel was cast in the role of Ellen Kishmore in the
romantic comedy Elizabethtown. She then played the title character in the
indie film
London. In 2005,
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.
[6]
In 2006, Biel played a turn-of-the-century duchess in the
period piece The Illusionist, co-starring
Edward Norton and
Paul Giamatti. Biel played an
Iraq War veteran in the 2006 film
Home of the Brave, a drama about soldiers struggling to readjust to society after facing the hardships of war. In
Next, Biel played alongside
Nicolas Cage and
Julianne Moore. She then played in the summer comedy,
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, co-starring
Adam Sandler and
Kevin James. In late 2007, Biel signed on to play a
stripper in
Powder Blue, alongside
Forest Whitaker (who also produced the film),
Ray Liotta and
Patrick Swayze. In 2007,
Stuff magazine's named her No. 1 on their "100 Sexiest Women".
[24]
2008–present
At the start of 2008, Biel shot
Easy Virtue, an adaptation of the play by
Noël Coward.
Like the play, the film is set in the 1920s and Biel plays young widow
Larita, who impulsively marries John Whittaker in France and must face
her disapproving in-laws on returning to England. The film premiered in
September 2008 at the
Toronto International Film Festival.
[25] Critics praised Biel for her performance, with Todd McCarthy of
Variety saying Biel "more than kept up" with veterans
Kristin Scott Thomas and
Colin Firth and praising her "sparkling" performance.
[26][27] The Hollywood Reporter
described her performance as "an irresistible force of nature — a kind,
witty, supremely intelligent and beautiful woman who ... is capable of
rejoinders that thoroughly undercut her opponent's withering criticism."
[28] Biel also performed two songs on the film's soundtrack, "
Mad About the Boy" and "
When the Going Gets Tough".
In 2009, Biel lent her voice to the animated science fiction film
Planet 51. In April 2008, Biel began working on the political satire
Nailed, with
Jake Gyllenhaal.
The film centers around a woman who accidentally gets a nail lodged in
her head, then travels to Washington D.C. to fight for better health
care. Biel performed the role of Sarah Brown with the
Los Angeles Philharmonic in a fully staged concert production of
Guys and Dolls during the 2009 season at the
Hollywood Bowl.
[29][30] On the last night, she received a rousing standing ovation from 17,000 people.
[8] She subsequently landed a part in
Lincoln Center Theater's two-week-long workshop of
the musical version of the
Pedro Almodóvar classic
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, along with
Salma Hayek.
[8]
In 2010, Biel starred in the large ensemble cast film
Valentine's Day and in the
A-Team, based on the
television series as Capt. Charisa Sosa. In 2011, she appeared in
New Year's Eve, directed by
Valentine's Day's
Garry Marshall.
[31]
In 2012, she starred in the remake of the 1990 science fiction movie
Total Recall alongside
Colin Farrell and
Kate Beckinsale. She portrayed actress
Vera Miles in the biographical film
Hitchcock, based on
Stephen Rebello's book
Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho. She also appeared in
Playing for Keeps with
Gerard Butler.
[32]
Biel starred in the thriller film
Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2013.
[33]
Personal life
Biel and
Adam LaVorgna had an off-screen relationship after meeting on set of the film
I'll Be Home For Christmas in 1998, they broke up in summer 2001.
[34]
From 2001 to 2006, Biel dated actor
Chris Evans.
[35] She then started dating singer and actor
Justin Timberlake in January 2007.
[36][37] After four years together, the couple announced their split in March 2011.
[38][39] However, by fall 2011, the couple reunited, and in late December 2011, Timberlake proposed to Biel in the mountains of
Jackson, Wyoming.
[40][41][42] The couple married on October 19, 2012, at the
Borgo Egnazia resort in
Fasano, Italy.
[43]
In September 2013, Biel finished the process of changing her legal
name to Jessica Timberlake, but said she would still use her maiden name
for professional purposes.
[44]
Philanthropy
On July 18, 2006, Biel participated in a charity auction to raise medical funds for
Colorado teen Molly Bloom, who was injured in a limousine accident.
[45] 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
The Palm restaurant in Denver, Colorado
[46] on August 18, 2006.
[47]
In early 2007, Jessica co-founded the Make the Difference Network, with her father and another business partner, Kent McBride.
[48]
In 2010, Biel climbed to the summit of
Mount Kilimanjaro with members of the United Nation Foundation to raise awareness of the global water crisis.
[49]
That same year, Biel's humanitarian and charity work (as well as her
popularity with young people) earned her a nomination for a
Do Something Award.
[50]
