'' on July 19, 2005
thumb|Biel aboard USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)|USS Abraham Lincoln, June 15, 2004
thumb|Jessica Biel on board Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego Bay, July 17, 2005
'''Jessica Claire Biel''' (born March 3 1982 in Ely, Minnesota) is an American actress and former fashion model, and probably best known for her role as Mary Camden on the long-running family-drama series ''
7th Heaven'' and her roles in feature films, such as ''
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre''.
Biography
Early life
Biel was born to Jonathan Edward Biel and Kimberly Conroe. Biel, who has a younger brother, Justin, 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''.
Career
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 fashion model. However, her big break came when at 14 years old 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). Aside from acting, Jessica became a spokesmodel for L'Oreal cosmetics in 2002.
In 2000, Biel 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. 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.
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
