When it comes to talent and looks, Jessica Biel has them both in spades and the abundance of both has helped Biel navigate her way through Hollywood. Her career has spanned nearly 30 years, beginning with early roles like 7th Heaven, action thrillers such as Blade: Trinity, a complete makeover to star in Candy, and not to mention the fact that she just celebrated her tenth wedding anniversary with her husband, Justin Timberlake.
Lately, though, Biel has been MIA around Hollywood. It doesn’t appear that Biel has stepped away from the acting game for good, but she definitely is taking some time away. So, what has Jessica Biel been up to that has kept her occupied? Let’s find out.
JESSICA BIEL COMPLETELY TRANSFORMS FOR THE NEW SERIES CANDY
One way to make waves in a new series or movie, especially when you have fame like Jessica Biel, is to completely transform your look for a role. And that’s exactly what she did for Candy when it premiered in May 2022 on Hulu.
The series is a true-crime drama based on actual events from the 1980s in Texas. Biel plays Candy Montgomery, a suburban housewife who was accused of murdering her neighbor, Betty Gore. It was a grizzly crime reportedly spurred because Montgomery was having an affair with Gore’s husband.
The five-part miniseries earned Jessica Biel and company solid marks from critics with Candy sitting at 68% on Rotten Tomatoes. Most critics agreed that the transformed actress helped carry the day.
You can see from the picture above that she is nearly unrecognizable in the part, donning the curly short hair and 80s fashion “sense” that has her playing a totally new part. This is a totally different actress than what we saw earlier in her career when she was turning heads.
JESSICA BIEL RISES TO FAME ON 7TH HEAVEN
Jessica Biel’s career started when she was twelve years old. Her first gig was in a very little-known movie called It’s A Digital World, where she played the lead character Regrettal. It was a story set in a town where all nursery rhymes happened, but the town itself is in big trouble. Kind of sounds familiar?
It’s A Digital World was not a big hit but it did open eyes for Jessica Biel because two short years later she was starring in the hit TV series 7th Heaven. She played Mary Camden, daughter to Stephen Collins’ Reverend Eric Camden and Catherine Hicks’ Annie Camden. Mary is the eldest daughter and causes the most heartache for her parents.
7th Heaven ran for 11 seasons and Jessica Biel was a regular for the first six. She then became a recurring character for the seventh season and a special guest in seasons eight and ten.
JESSICA BIEL STARS IN SUMMER CATCH, I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK & LARRY, AND OTHERS
As the first season of 7th Heaven was wrapping up, Jessica Biel found herself grabbing a role in the Peter Fonda-led, critically acclaimed movie Ulee’s Gold. In this one, she played Fonda’s granddaughter, a rebellious teenager who finds herself in the middle of her convict father and drug-addled mother’s troubles. She earned a Young Artist Award for her role in the film.
Jessica Biel followed that with a role in the movie I’ll Be Home For Christmas, in which she starred with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who was fresh off making a big name for himself on the Tim Allen hit TV series Home Improvement.
From there though, Jessica Biel stirred up controversy when she posed, at 17 years of age, in a series of risqué photos for the March 2000 issue of Gear. In fact, the producers of 7th Heaven were so outraged that they brought legal action against the magazine.
Jessica Biel’s star was on the rise. She starred with Freddie Prinze Jr. in Summer Catch and then went on to The Rules of Attraction. This was just the tip of the iceberg for her. Biel got her first top-billing role when she starred in the remake of the classic horror film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was a gory (imagine that) remake that unfortunately didn’t sit well with fans or critics. It didn’t do damage to Jessica Biel’s career, thankfully.
Jessica then took roles in Blade: Trinity, Stealth, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave, and she tested her comedic chops in the Adam Sandler/Kevin James comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry. She also made a lasting impression in the movie The Illusionist.
Then something happened. It could have been film choice, or film offers, but the movies Biel began to star in were largely forgettable fare. She starred in two ensemble films, Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve that didn’t draw the crowd the movie makers had hoped for. She was also in the widely panned remake of The A-Team. She played actress Vera Miles in the movie Hitchcock but after that found herself in a string of so-so movies. These included Accidental Love, Bleeding Heart, The Book of Love, and A Kind of Murder. Has anyone seen those?
SHE IS MARRIED TO JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
Jessica Biel met pop singer/actor Justin Timberlake in 2007 and the two began dating. They were engaged for four years and then in 2012, the couple married. For the most part, their relationship was steady and lasting.
In 2015, Biel and Timberlake had their first child, Silas Randall, which brought a new sense of respect to motherhood for Biel.
She said in a 2017 interview with Marie Claire, “You think you’re a selfless person, and then you realize you’re not. These little people come around, and they require so much, and your schedule is really not your own, nor is it important anymore, and it’s very clear that it’s your life now revolving around this dude. I’m not that person who feels like, ‘Oh, my whole life changes for my kid,’ but it does.”
Biel continued to work as she was raising little Silas, though she pared her schedule way back. In 2016, Biel was seen in two features, The Book of Love and A Kind of Murder. And then in 2017, she was in a TV series, The Sinner, following that up with Shock and Awe. It was a Rob Reiner film about the Knight Ridder journalists who became very skeptical of President George W. Bush’s claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of any of these films, none of them got much play either.
While things seemed to be going well for Biel and her growing family, they actually weren’t. Drama arrived at her doorstep when her husband got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It was not pretty.
Timberlake was caught red-handed during a break from filming with his co-star Alisha Wainwright. They were spotted at a bar in New Orleans, and in photos, Wainwright had her hand on his leg. Then later the two were caught holding hands. Of course, the tabloids ran with it.
About a week later, Timberlake took to his Instagram to offer his heartfelt apologies. “I stay away from gossip as much as I can,” the note began. “But for my family I feel it is important to address recent rumors that are hurting the people I love.”
“A few weeks ago I displayed a strong lapse in judgement (sic) — but let me be clear — nothing happened between me and my costar. I drank way too much that night and I regret my behavior. I should have known better. This is not the example I want to set for my son. I apologize to my amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation, and I am focused on being the best husband and father I can be. This was not that.”
Only Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake know what went on behind the scenes after he was ratted out by the paparazzi. The incident, though, seems to have worked itself out. Biel was seen with Timberlake during the season three premiere of The Sinner, a USA network series Biel starred in the first season and is now a producer of the show. The two are still married and both Justin and Jessica frequently post pictures of them together on their Instagrams.
JESSICA BIEL SPOKE OUT AS ANTI-VACCINE
Jessica Biel has also made a controversial name for herself by speaking out against vaccines. There’s no way to be sure, but it probably hasn’t helped make her an appealing hire for most directors during the time of COVID.
Biel’s anti-vaccine views really erupted into a firestorm when she spoke out against a controversial California Vaccination Bill to lawmakers. She has been highly outspoken on this topic and even lobbied with anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
While Biel has professed that she isn’t against vaccines, she strongly opposes the bill. She told CNN, “My concern with #SB277 is solely regarding medical exemptions. My dearest friends have a child with a medical condition that warrants an exemption from vaccinations, and should this bill pass, it would greatly affect their family’s ability to care for their child in this state.”
JESSICA BIEL HAD A SECRET PREGNANCY
Jessica Biel has been so totally out of the limelight in recent years that when The Daily Mail discovered she’d given birth to a baby boy last week, it was the first anyone had even heard of her being pregnant. The baby is her second child with her husband, Justin Timberlake.
Jessica Biel had kept herself out of the limelight for enough time that when she and her husband announced that they had a second child, it came as a shock to most. First of all, Biel never announced that she was pregnant for a second time. Secondly, just how were two people as famous as Biel and Timberlake able to have a baby in secret? Well, they pulled it off and in January 2021, the couple announced the birth of Phineas, their second son, on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
NO PRODUCTIONS PLANNED AFTER CANDY
Now that we’ve seen the actress willing to eschew her original look in an effort to get completely into a new character, what does Jessica Biel have lined up going forward? The answer is, not much. In fact, she has absolutely nothing lined up.
This, of course, doesn’t mean that getting back in front of the camera is completely out. Things can change fast in Hollywood and if Jessica Biel is willing, chances are that she could find a project that suits her. In the meantime, it isn’t as if she is completely out of the Hollywood loop.
Acting isn’t the only Hollywood profession Jessica Biel has undertaken. She is also a producer, starting back in 2012 on the film, The Tall Man.
Since that time, she has been a producer on a number of projects that include the films The Short Game and The Book of Love as well as the TV series Limetown, The Sinner, Candy, and Cruel Summer. Cruel Summer was renewed for a second season and that, apparently, is what has been keeping Biel occupied.
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