Jessica Claire
Biel, born
March 3, 1982, has
instantly moved herself to
the spotlight with a
controversial
layout in Gear
magazine in which even her
own television dad on
7th
Heaven, Stephen
Collins, has called 'child
pornography'. Jessica's
18th birthday is about 3
months after her photo
shoot with the Bob
Guccione
Jr. backed magazine.
By
Jessica's
own admission, the cheesy
topless layout was done to
provoke
Aaron Spelling into
releasing her from her
contract. She has said
that
Spelling angrily told Biel
"I own you!" though
Spelling denies the
charges.
Those who read TV
Guide saw this
tension coming as in a
March '99
interview with them she
caught the ire of 7th
Heaven producers by
saying she'd like to see
her character "have sex
with one of the bishops
or something." She also
upset the crew by cutting
her own hair before the
start of the '99 season,
where she exclaimed "The
producers were pissed.
I told them, 'Hey, it
grows back.' But they
didn't see it that way."
Jessica's
attitude leads many to
compare her to Shannen
Doherty, the controversial
former 90210
actress who also heated up
the Spelling set with
hissy
fits and controversy.
Insiders at 7th Heaven
have labeled Biel a
'bitch' right from the
start as an inside source
tells E! Online "She's
always been unhappy with
her storylines". In the Gear
interview,
Biel shows her tremendous
immaturity by saying of
her television sister,
Beverly Mitchell, "I'll
grab her by the t--- and
be like, 'Look at the
size of these things,' It
really p--- her
off."
Most of
Jessica's concern
is her inability to land
the sex oriented roles
that many of her teen
oriented
peers have, though she
recently won the role
opposite Freddie Prinze
Jr.
in Summer Catch.
Her family oriented role
as Mary Camden she says
has caused movie
producers to shy away
from her and she's
worried about
getting typecast. She
says of her character on
the show "I'd kick her
f---ing
ass. I'd kick the s---
out of her and then
she'd apologize for
hurting
my fists." All this has
done nothing to change
Spellings feelings about
her staying on the show,
as a spokesperson has
stated she's under
contract
for the next two seasons
and they are looking
forward to working with
her
until that ends. Just
recently, Jessica said
she regretted the entire
Gear
magazine stunt and
counts the entire ordeal
as a learning
experience.
Certainly
Jessica's younger
days were tamer, where
she was born in Ely,
Minnesota and raised in
Boulder,
Colorado. Jessica
started doing plays at
the age of nine with
roles in
The
Sound of Music, Annie,
Beauty and the Beast,
and
Anything
Goes. In 1994
while attending Diane
Hardin's Young
Actor's Space
in Los Angeles, Jessica
was discovered by her
current manager (and
incidentally,
he and Jessica's father
were at the Gear photo
shoot when the pictures
were taken) Jeff Morrone
at Innovative Artists.
What followed were
several
modeling covers
including Sassy
Magazine in '96, Teen
and
Moxie
Girl in 1998, and
the huge honor from
People Magazine
in '99
when they named her one
of the worlds 50 most
beautiful people. Her
on-screen
career began in 1996
where she played Mary
Camden, the oldest
daughter
of a minister couple in
the aforementioned
7th Heaven. She
also
branched out to the big
screen with parts in
Ulee's Gold in
'97
and I'll Be Home For
Christmas in 1998,
where she played
opposite
Home
Improvement's
Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
The question remains now
what
will be in the future of
Jessica's acting career
and what will the
repercussions
of her childish ranting
and posing partially
nude as a minor have on
her
ability to score future
roles in Hollywood.
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