Jessica Biel
Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and former model, who has appeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Illusionist, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, and is also well known for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven.
Born Jessica Claire Biel on March 3, 1982 in Ely, Minnesota, to Kimberly Biel (née Conroe) a homemaker, and Jon Biel, an entrepreneur. She has a younger brother, Justin, born in 1985.
Although she was born in Minnesota, her family moved a lot during her childhood, living in Texas, Illinois and Connecticut, before finally settling in Boulder, Colorado, which she calls home.
On July 18, 2006, Biel participated in a charity auction to raise medical funds for Colorado teen Molly Bloom, who was injured in an auto accident. John Schiffner of Fergus Falls, Minnesota successfully bid $30,000 to have lunch with Biel. "I promise I'm a cheap date," Biel quipped. Biel and Schiffner lunched at Denver's The Palm restaurant. on August 18, 2006.
In late 2007, Biel signed on for her most grittiest role to date, as a stripper, in the yet to be released Powder Blue. She will be playing alongside Forest Whitaker, who also produced the film, Ray Liotta, and Patrick Swayze.
At the start of 2008, Biel flew to England to shoot Easy Virtue, an adaptation of the play by Noel Coward. Like the play, the movie is set in the 1920s and Biel plays divorcee Larita, who marries John Whittaker on the spur-of-the-moment in France, but must face her disapproving in-laws when they return to England. The film is due to be released in 2009.
In April, she began working on the political satire Nailed, with Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie centers around a woman who accidentally gets a nail lodged in her head causing her to become a nymphomaniac. Filming finally wrapped in late June after several production shut downs, and is also due to be released in 2009.
She has a few other movies in the pipeline, including the animated sci-fi Planet 51, to which Biel is lending her voice. She is also co-producing and starring in Die a Little, a contemporary adaptation of the novel by Megan Abbott. A start date for filming has not yet been set.
In early 2007, Jessica co-founded Make the Difference Network (www.mtdn.com) with her father, Jon Biel, and another business partner, Kent McBride. Make The Difference Network (MTDN) is a cause-oriented social network that connects nonprofit organizations with potential donors and increases the awareness for small-to-medium nonprofit organizations. MTDN's misson is to democratize giving by increasing the visibility of thousands of nonprofit organizations and empowering potential donors to search, select and fund these organizations’ specific “Wishes” and then to see the results of their giving. Make the Difference Network was also featured at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative, where they made a commitment to democratize giving through the use of a social network.
