A flawless beauty with a down-to-earth attitude, Jessica Biel found success on the small screen portraying Mary Camden, the mostly level-headed eldest daughter of a progressive minister, on the long-running WB drama “7th Heaven” (1996- ) before taking on the big screen in films such as “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and “Blade: Trinity” (2004). Named one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” in 1999 and Esquire magazine’s “Sexiest Woman Alive” in 2005, Biel’s stunning features and curvaceous figure made her one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young actresses. Receiving critical praise for her role opposite Edward Norton in “The Illusionist” (2006), Biel proved that she was more than just a pretty face.
Born March 3, 1982 in Ely, MN to Jon and Kim Biel, Biel’s family moved around during her childhood, living in six different states. Spending most of her formative years in Boulder, CO, Biel would later call the Rocky Mountain town home. An active and adventurous child, Biel began taking dance and voice lessons as a young girl. Obsessed with the musical “Annie,” Biel landed a gig as an understudy for the role in a Connecticut production of the play at the age of eight. Signing with a Denver talent agency at the age of 11, Biel started modeling and attended an International Modeling & Talent Association convention in 1994, where she won an acting scholarship to attend the Young Actor’s Space in Los Angeles. Biel spent the next three years commuting between LA and Colorado, balancing acting classes and auditions with schoolwork. Her hard work on her craft eventually paid off; in the same week, Biel landed the part of Mary Camden on the WB series “7th Heaven” (1996- ), as well as a role in the feature film, “Ulee’s Gold” (1997) opposite Peter Fonda, in which she played his troubled granddaughter Casey – the polar opposite of Mary Camden. During her high school years being tutored on the set of “Heaven,” Biel bonded with co-star Beverly Mitchell in between scenes.
Raising eyebrows in 2000, Biel posed semi-nude for a cover and photo layout in Gear magazine in an attempt to shed her wholesome image and, reportedly, be released from her “Heaven” contract. Because the show was religious in nature and a big hit w/ conservative viewers, her Gear portfolio enraged some, but her alleged ploy worked. She ultimately negotiated a reduced, recurring role on the series, allowing her to attend college and focus on feature films instead. Biel enrolled at Massachusetts’ Tufts University in 2000, returning to LA at the end of her freshman year to finish out the show’s sixth season. Leaving school to focus on her acting career, Biel went on to find work in a number of feature films. Adding a bit of sexy zest, she portrayed Freddie Prinze, Jr.’s fantasy girl in the otherwise dreary baseball comedy, “Summer Catch” (2001) and took on her edgiest project then to date, appearing as promiscuous college student Lara Halleran in writer-director Roger Avary's blunt, sex-soaked adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ “The Rules of Attraction” (2002).
Finding more mainstream box office success, Biel starred as Erin, the central scream queen, in the hit remake of the 1974 cult horror film, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), followed by her appearance in the supposed thriller, “Cellular” (2004). Biel played the spurned romantic interest of a man (Chris Evans) who gets thrown into a high-stakes chase after receiving a random call on his cell phone. Thankfully, her small part in this forgettable actioner went virtually unnoticed, with no harm done to her career. In “Blade: Trinity” (2004), the third installment in the popular B-movie franchise, her role of Abigail Whistler, leader of a group of human vampire hunters who team up with Blade (Wesley Snipes) to do battle with undead thugs, proved to be Biel’s most physical role to date. Not surprisingly, the athletic beauty was more than up for the challenge of months of pre-production training. Next, Biel starred opposite Jamie Foxx and Josh Lucas as a fighter pilot in the less-than-memorable CG action flick “Stealth” (2005), a lowbrow cross between "Top Gun" (1986) and "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), followed by a part opposite her “Cellular” co-star and rumored boyfriend Evans in the critically-panned “London” (2005).
Faring better with her next film, Biel took on a supporting role in Cameron Crowe’s “Elizabethtown” (2005). Though the film itself was savaged by critics and did not make the usual Crowe bank that Hollywood had come to expect from the director, Biel was singled out for her performance as the beautiful girlfriend of a whiz-kid athletic shoe designer (Orlando Bloom) whose ardor cools when her boyfriend experiences a colossal failure. Taking on her first serious period role in 2006, Biel landed the role of Viennese princess Sophie in “The Illusionist” (2006), starring opposite respected actor Edward Norton and once again impressing critics with her abilities as a serious actress.