Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3, 1982) is an American actress, model, and occasional singer. Biel is known for her television role as Mary Camden,the oldest daughter in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven. She has also appeared in several Hollywood films, including Summer Catch, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Illusionist, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and The A-Team. Biel landed her first feature film role as Peter Fonda's granddaughter in the critically-acclaimed drama Ulee's Gold, released in 1997. Her performance earned her a Young Artist Award. Biel initially trained to be a vocalist, and from age nine appeared in several musical productions in her hometown, playing lead roles in productions such as Annie, The Sound of Music, and Beauty and the Beast. At twelve, Biel attended The International Modeling and Talent Association conference in Los Angeles where she was discovered and signed by a talent agency. She began modeling for print advertisements, and appeared in commercials for products such as Dulux Paint and Pringles. Biel also played the character Regrettal, a lead role in a low-budget musical short titled It's a Digital World, but the film was never released. At fourteen, after auditioning for several television pilots, Biel was cast as Mary Camden, in the family drama 7th Heaven. The show ran 11 seasons, making it the longest-running family drama in U.S. television history. In spring 1998, Biel starred in I'll Be Home for Christmas, playing the love interest of Jonathan Taylor Thomas. In 2000, Biel commented that she'd grown tired of playing the wholesome preacher's kid, and blamed the show for giving her a squeaky-clean image. In a last-ditch attempt to be released from her contract, she posed semi-nude for the cover of Gear magazine. The shoot sparked considerable controversy as Biel was still under eighteen at the time. Fans and producers of 7th Heaven were outraged, and the latter brought legal action against Gear magazine. 7th Heaven producer made it clear that Biel would be staying with the show for the remainder of her contract, although Biel appeared in minimal episodes in season five. In 2001, Biel played the love interest of Freddie Prinze, Jr. in the baseball-themed movie Summer Catch. The next year she starred as promiscuous college student Lara in the ensemble movie The Rules of Attraction, an adaptation of the Bret Easton Ellis novel. Biel was cast in her first top-billing role in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film met with mixed reviews but her performance was praised and it was a commercial success, scoring the number-one spot in its opening week and going on to earn more than $80 million in the U.S. In 2003, Biel began work on the third installment of the Blade film series, Blade: Trinity. In 2005 Biel's film career blossomed when she played a turn-of-the-century duchess in the period piece The Illusionist, co-starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. She received the Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival and an Achievement Award at the Newport Beach Film Festival for her performance. In Next, Biel played alongside Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore. She then played in the summer comedy, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, co-starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. Chuck and Larry received mixed reviews, but opened its first week at number one at the box office. Biel was invited to announce nominations at both the Golden Globe Awards (with Rosario Dawson and Matthew Perry) and the Academy Awards in 2007. In late 2007, Biel signed on to play a stripper in Powder Blue, alongside Forest Whitaker (who also produced the film) Ray Liotta and Patrick Swayze. Biel also landed a part in Lincoln Center Theater's two-week-long workshop of the musical version of the Pedro Almodóvar classic Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, along with Salma Hayek.
