"I'm not going to give up doing interesting things. I'm going to do it as long as I possibly can and hopefully have longevity in this business."
Jessica Claire Biel (born on March 3, 1982 in Ely, Minnesota) is an American actress whose big break, much to her chagrin, was in 7th Heaven. She's since put that behind her thanks to movies ranging from The Illusionist (2006) to The A-Team. She's also known for being Justin Timberlake's wife. They have a son, Silas.
Not to be, but sometimes, confused with Jessica Alba in spite of looking nothing alike — and even though they've both appeared in at least one movie together (Valentine's Day). In fact, commercials for Blade: Trinity couldn't air because they mistakenly advertised Jessica Alba as starring.
Works associated with this actress:
- 7th Heaven
- Summer Catch
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
- Cellular
- Blade: Trinity
- Stealth
- The Illusionist (2006)
- Home of the Brave
- Next
- I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
- Powder Blue
- Easy Virtue
- Planet 51
- Valentine's Day
- The A-Team
- New Year's Eve
- Total Recall (2012)
- The Tall Man
- The Sinner
- Candy (2022)
- Cruel Summer (producer)
This actress' work provides examples of:
- Acclaimed Flop: From the mid-2000s onwards, she starred in a lot of these. Critics would often praise her performances in films that weren't that good too.
- Adam Westing: Jessica's appearances on BoJack Horseman are basically a parody of her public image, appearing self-obsessed and wanting to appear relevant much of the time. The show also adds on another layer to her character by making Jessica appear borderline sociopathic. And it seems Jessica is having a blast all the way through. She apparently insisted the show go even harder on her than in the original script.
- As Himself: Her appearance as Mr. Peanutbutter's wife on BoJack Horseman — apparently he was the one that accidentally kick-started her relationship with Justin Timberlake.
- Bare Midriffs Are Feminine: Most of her roles emphasize her attractive looks, often accentuated by clothing that reveals her bare stomach. In Blade: Trinity she wears low-cut trousers combined with short tops/shirts, and in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) she has her top tied up in a knot (shortening it so her midriff shows) during most of the film.
- Contractual Purity: She attempted to break out of this during her time on 7th Heaven by posing topless (though not nude) for Gear magazine, while she was still seventeen. It worked and eventually got her character Put on a Bus.
- Creator Backlash: It's been suggested that some of her antics during her time on 7th Heaven — like her infamous, borderline-illegal Gear Magazine photo shoot — were deliberate attempts to get fired, so she could move on to other things.
- Ms. Fanservice: There are several occasions of her showing off her body:
- Blade: Trinity let her show off the impressive muscles she built up for the action-heavy film.
- I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry has a particularly nice scene of her in lingerie.
- Stealth got lots of attention for one scene of her wearing a blue bikini. One review even devoted special time to talk of her "wiggling her shapely rear".
- Powder Blue, where she plays a stripper, is remembered for featuring the first nude scenes of her career, and the only ones until The Sinner.
- She parodies this when she appears As Herself on BoJack Horseman. When no one recognizes her from the films she lists, she grudgingly says "the chick from 7th Heaven who took her clothes off for that magazine..." and everyone immediately remembers.
- Non-Singing Voice: Averted beautifully in Easy Virtue (she's also sung at the Hollywood Bowl).
- Playing Against Type:
- Really heavily in The Illusionist as a Fake Brit. She went all out for the audition, going in full costume. Critics called it her finest hour.
- To a lesser extent, as a pregnant woman in New Year's Eve. She relished not having to worry about her figure during filming.
- She also played Vera Miles in a small role in the Hitchcock biopic.
- Playing with Character Type: She plays her usual type...in the 1930s for Easy Virtue.
- Star-Derailing Role: She managed to come out of Stealth relatively unscathed, but Total Recall (2012) failing seems to have harmed her career.
- Throw It In: For a scene in Blade: Trinity she fires an arrow at the camera. She had perfected her archery skills to the degree that she actually fired the arrow right through the camera and destroyed it.
- Typecasting: Either as an Action Girl or as a Ms. Fanservice in comedies.
- What Could Have Been:
- Lost two roles to Anne Hathaway — Fantine in Les Misérables (2012) and Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. She reportedly was confident she would get the latter, and was devastated when Hathaway was cast in the part.
- She was among one of the actresses considered to play Black Widow in Iron Man 2 when Emily Blunt had to drop out. Of course, it went to Scarlett Johansson.
- Accidental Love was intended to be a breakout role for her. But financial issues caused it to be shelved and eventually released on VOD. Most critics viewed it as wasted potential.
- She auditioned for the role of Claire in Elizabethtown and got cast as Ellen instead.
