Actors - Jessica Biel

Home > Listing Index > Actors > Jessica Biel

	Actors - Jessica Biel

Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3 1982) is an American actress, best known for her role as Mary Camden on the popular family drama television series 7th Heaven from 1996 to 2002.

Biography

Jessica was born in Ely, Minnesota to Jonathan Edward Biel and Kimberly Conroe; the family is of German, French, English and Choctaw Native American descent. Biel grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where her family had moved 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.

Early life

It wasn't until she attended the International Modeling & Talent Association Convention in Los Angeles in 1994 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).

Acting appearances

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). Producer Joel Silver has commented that Biel was his first choice to play the title role in writer-director Joss Whedon's Wonder Woman (film).

Commericals

Aside from acting, Jessica became a spokesmodel for L'Oreal cosmetics in 2002.

Career

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.

Personal life

Her hobbies include ballet, soccer, running, yoga and hiking. She has a dog named East. She recently bought a house close to her parents in Colorado. Jessica is the co-founder of MTDN (Make the Difference Network) and she supports several non-profit groups. Jessica currently resides in Los Angeles.

Controversy

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.

Trivia

Has one younger brother, Justin.
Is a vegan and an active member of PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
She is in fact one year younger than Beverly Mitchell, who played her younger sister on the show.

Awards

1998: Young Artist Award - Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress in Ulee's Gold

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Jessica Biel ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Jessica Biel; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.