Jessica Biel Biography Filmography Awards

Jessica Claire Biel was born March 3, 1982 in Ely, Minnesota. With parenst Jonathon Edward Biel and Kimberly Conroe; the family is of German, French, English and Choctaw Native American descent. Jessica was raised in Boulder, Colorado, where her family had moved to when she was very young. She initially trained to become a vocalist with the hope of performing in musical theater and appeared in several musicals at an early age including The Sound of Music, Annie, Beauty and the Beast, and Anything Goes.

In 1994, Jessica attended the International Modeling & Talent Association Convention in Los Angeles when her career started to take off as a teen print model. However, her big break came when at 14 years old when she landed the role of Mary Camden on the WB TV Series 7th Heaven. The family drama from Aaron Spelling and Brenda Hampton became the most popular (and remains the longest running) series on the fledgling network. Jessica's film career also began at age 15 when she played alongside Peter Fonda in his Golden Globe winning performance in Ulee's Gold (1997).

Jessica attended the exclusive private school Le Lycee Francais De Los Angeles for high school. In 2000, Jessica enrolled in undergraduate study at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. She left before completing a degree program in order to pursue her acting career. Jessica returned to 7th Heaven full time for the 2001-2002 season and then focused the attention on her movie career and has made minimal TV appearances since then.

In 2000, Jessica posed topless in a layout of Gear magazine. It was controversial because she was only 17 at the time of the shoot. Her frustration and fear about being typecast was one of the reasons that led to her decision. She blamed her saintly image on 7th Heaven for limiting her film career, including losing a lead role in American Beauty which eventually went to Thora Birch. Jessica also hoped that by posing she would get out of her 7th Heaven contract, which she accomplished. She later said she regretted posing for the magazine and regards it as a learning experience.

After her departure from 7th Heaven she accepted projects mainly geared to teens and young adults including Summer Catch (2001), The Rules of Attraction (2002) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003). The movies were met with mild reaction from the box office and panned by many critics. It was believed that Jessica's career may have suffered damage from mistakes in her youth including posing topless for Gear magazine and her ranting against 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton. Nevertheless, she is currently a sought after young Hollywood actress which is apparent by her roles in Blade: Trinity (2004) and Stealth (2005).

Filmography

7th Heaven (1996)
Ulee's Gold (1997)
I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998)
Summer Catch (2001)
The Rules of Attraction (2002)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003 film) (2003)
It's a Digital World (2004)
Cellular (2004)
Blade: Trinity (2004)
Stealth (2005)
Elizabethtown (2005)
London (2005)
The Illusionist (2006)

Awards and Nominations

Young Artist Award
Year, Category, Movie, Win/Nominated
1998, Best Performance in a Feature Film, Ulee's Gold (1997), Win