Jessica Biel was kind enough to sit down for an
in-depth interview about her adventures while
filming her recent films, her tough-girl image,
the highs and lows of Hollywood life, and the
impossible search for body doubles.
This
charming young actress is sky-rocketing to the
top of the A-list with a rare talent, stunning
beauty and that unquantifiable star-quality that
only comes along once in a blue moon.
Jessica Biel was recently named the "Sexiest
Woman Alive" by Esquire Magazine. It is
not hard to see why.
She has recently released "Blade:
Trinity", "Stealth" and has just wrapped
a shoot as the
title character in a new film called "London".
Question:
From "Blade: Trinity" to "Stealth" in
back-to-back shoots... That must have been
grueling?
Jessica Biel: -- I
went home for one day, unpacked, repacked and
went to Australia. So I didn’t even stop my
training. I had one day off that I didn’t go to
the gym – showed up in Australia, met the
trainer and got back in the gym. So I was in
like great shape when I arrived, which I’m so
thankful about. No, I’m so small now, it’s very
disappointing.
Question: Is that hard to keep up?
JB: Yeah, it’s the
diet. The diet is like everything. I mean not
everything, but it’s incredibly helpful. It just
kind of leans you down and slims you up and
takes that little layer of fat, skin,
water-weight right off your body. It is hard to
keep up that intensely, because I mean your life
is taken over. You life is taken over. You go to
a restaurant and you’re like “Oooohhh… I can’t
have anything,” you know what I mean?
Q: How long were you on those shoots?
JB: Well for me it
was about eleven months, all in all, since
"Blade" and "Stealth" were back to back. So it
was a long time.
Q: You’re always playing such a tough
woman. Is that because you think you’re not
tough yourself?
JB: (chuckles) No,
I think it’s actually because I… I kind of feel
tough. (chuckles) I don’t know. I like to kick butts. That’s right.
What did you say?
Q: You’re not the “I have to go pee-pee
girl?”
JB: No. I’m definitely not the I have to
go pee-pee girl. I’ve been trying to not be that
girl for my entire life, I think.
Q: You are tough in all areas of your
life?
JB: Well I think… not in like love. I
don’t feel tough in that area of my life, but …
I feel like, you know, in my career you have to
be pretty… you know, professionally I feel tough
and I feel… I don’t know. I feel like I’ve, you
know, been playing sports my whole life and had
to be tough like, you know, tough when you’re on
a team and you’re competitive and it’s just been
part of who I am. So I don’t… I don’t feel
necessarily extremely girly, or extremely
feminine. But I don’t know.
Q: Are some guys intimidated by that
tough persona?
JB: Yeah. (chuckles)
Q: They run away.
JB: Yeah, that’s true. When I was working
on "Stealth" and "Blade" and I was, you know,
probably my largest, like my biggest muscle mass
and everything, and men were so funny, how they
reacted to it. They would be like “So you work
out?” I’m like “Yeah.” (chuckles) They’re like
“You look good.” Like they were really
competitive with me. Really threatened. Like “So
what do you do for your delts? You do that? I do
like fifteen/twenty. You do like thirty?” Yeah,
it was just so weird. I’m like “What is this?
This is so strange.” They really felt this weird
competitive kind of thing with me, or they were
just like totally grossed out by it. I had
actually a guy friend who was working on
"Stealth"
come up to me and said “You know what? You look
really good but it’s just not my thing. I don’t
find it sexy.” And I was like “Guy, I appreciate
the honesty. It doesn’t really bother me.”
Q: You’re not my thing either. (chuckles)
JB: Yeah. And I don’t like you either.
(chuckles)
Q: Do you prefer that actually, that
people are like that, they totally
tell you their mind?
JB: Yeah, I think I’ve grown up with such
rejection in my life, professionally I mean. You
know, you’re too small, you’re too tall, you’re
not good enough, you’re not blond, you’re not
this, you’re not this, no, no, no, no, no. At a
point you’re just like (snores) whatever. Fine,
I don’t care. I don’t care if you don’t like me,
because you’re missing out. I know it, and
you’ll find that out later. So I would much
prefer somebody to just be completely honest.
Q: Are you the same way with people? Do
you tell them what you think?
JB: Usually. I’m pretty honest.
Q: When was the last time you gave
somebody a critique?
JB: The last time I gave somebody a
critique?
Q: Yeah, when you were brutally truthful.
JB: (chuckles) Maybe I have like
selective memory. I don’t remember when I told
somebody the truth (like that). I don’t remember what I
said.
Q: Do you always tell the truth even if
it hurts someone?
JB: Well not always. I mean I try to be
as honest as possible. But yeah, even if it
hurts sometimes, you know, the truth is the
best, especially in relationships with your
family or friends.
Q: How do you deal with the "Hollywood
life"?
JB: I enjoy the lifestyle, I think. I
mean you can’t beat the weather and you can’t,
you know, beat … you know, just sometimes the
parties or the food or the ocean and then the
mountains. I mean there’s a lot of really nice
things about Los Angeles, about California. But,
you know, I think I’ve become more aware and
more skeptical of when people say things to me.
I’m talking mainly business, professional-wise,
like “Oh, you’re on a very short list, and they
want you!” Um… I don’t know if I want to believe
that. You know, I’m just more aware and I don’t
take things… I’ve heard it and it hasn’t come
true before, and so I’m … I just don’t take
things for exactly what they are.
Q: It's not an honest town?
JB: No, it’s really not. I mean people that you
work with are a lot of times there to … to make
you happy, to sell you on things, and to… It’s
not that honesty isn’t there, but I think a lot
of the times people pad. Everything’s padded,
you know. “You’re on the short list,” instead of
“Look, they just don’t like you.” You know, it’s
like a nice way of saying “They’re not
interested.” And I’m not saying that that
happens all the time, but, you know, I’ve heard
that stuff before and I would just rather have
somebody say “They’re not interested. We’ve done
everything that we could, but no.”
Q: What is "London"?
JB: London is … is
the name of the character, as opposed to the
place, right? It’s a really interesting film.
It’s basically about this relationship between
two people, about London and this character named Sid. And they
are each other’s first loves, so it’s …
everybody remembers that like passionate
feeling, that like angst-ridden relationship
with somebody, at least I remember that. Except
this relationship is just… it’s kind of volatile
and it’s kind of violent. You know, it’s like so
passionate and yet so wrong for these two
people. They just don’t fit together. But
they’re like forcing this relationship to work.
And that’s like what the story is about: these
two people who have at this point split up, and
the character Sid and Jason Statham’s character
meet and then they go to a party and they spend
all this time in a bathroom – they spend like
two hours in this bathroom – discussing love and
life and God, death, in a bathroom. They’re
doing drugs in this bathroom for like hours.
Q: Sid is played by Chris Evans?
JB: Yeah. Sid is Chris Evans. So they’re just
talking about everything and they flash back to
the relationship between London and Sid, during
its good times, during its bad times. It’s kind
of this, you know, kind of a backwards/forwards
reality mixture of a film. And it’s really –
it’s kind of a really gritty, raw look at a
relationship. It’s really different. It’s really
kind of dark and it’s really kind of funny and
weird and… It was great fun. It was great fun
because it was so different.
Q: Do you like doing the smaller films?
JB: You know, I think it’s changing, my
career, because people are kind of surprised to
hear that “Oh, you’re doing "Elizabethtown". Wow,
you’re working with Cameron Crowe, and that’s
pretty, you know, exciting and pretty big and
pretty different."” And I think people are
starting to kind of see me a little bit
differently, you know, not just see me as ...
you know, a really tough girl action star who
just has to scream and run around and I kind of
get away with it. You know what I mean? Like
they’re thinking, I think, wow, I must be good
to be able to, you know, work with Cameron
Crowe, or I’m, you know, working with Ed Norton
and Paul Giamatti, there must be something
there. So I think people are, you know, kind of
a little intrigued and I’m glad – I’m glad that
that’s happening, because that’s the kind of
career I want to have is, you know, just kind of
all over the place, and…
Q: Versatile?
JB: I mean it’s not like I see it.
Someone said to me the other day, they said “Oh,
I talked to you last year and you’re so much
more mature now.” I’m like “I am? Oh, thanks.”
I’m sure I’m maturing. I definitely feel… I feel
like I know myself better, you know, as the
years go on. I mean don’t you feel that
way? I don’t know.
Q: I know myself less.
JB: No, come on. (chuckles) I don’t know.
Q: I do understand. Now, especially for
"Stealth",
there was a sexy scene. Are you comfortable with
those types of scenes or do you not want to show
that
to an audience?
JB: I don’t necessarily … you know, not
like showing or, you know, not like a bikini
scene, or, you know, whatever. I just… I’m
comfortable with my body. I just don’t … I just
don’t want to be doing scenes or doing stuff
that’s like, you know, gratuitous or, or…. I
just don’t want to be looked at as, you know,
oh, I’m just a body, and, you know, the more
kind of stuff you do like that, the more it kind
of is prevalent and more people ask about it,
and, you know, the more … more bikini movies you
do or whatever. People are like “So… a bikini
movie.” And you’re like “Yeah, oh I know.” You
know what I mean? So it’s just I’m just … I
don’t… I want to be, I want to be respected for
being good, and not just because oh, I look good
in a bikini. But, you know, it’s kind of hard,
because there’s so much stuff out there that
requires like … you know, for women especially
it’s, you know, well when are you gonna get your
gear off, and…? When are you going to get in the
bikini and… It’s just like oh, man.
Q: Have you ever auditioned body doubles?
JB: I have worked with a body double. I
used it in London actually.
Q: So how was it? I mean…
JB: The script was incredibly, highly sexual,
and very openly sexual, which is … which is part
of why I think I was attracted to it. But when
it came down to it I just really didn’t want to
… yeah, I just didn’t feel comfortable like
exposing my body at this point in my life, on
film.
Q: But you are in your prime. If not
now, then when?
JB: I know, you know, it’s so funny,
because people have said that to me before. I’ve
said, you know… actresses, older actresses have
said “Girl, I wish I would have done it more,”
you know, and so I think my God, am I going to
feel that way? I don’t know, but…
Q: Well what were the scenes? How were
they shot?
Do you know what I mean?
JB: I do know what you mean, but in this
particular instance it was close-ups of body
parts that the director wanted. It was supposed
to be a close-up of a breast and a close-up of a
bottom, and, you know, maybe like from like here
down wearing… you know, from the back so it was
like this whole breast….
Q: Lots of cuts and angles?
JB: Yeah, more kind of creative… like
avante guard, which it could have been… I mean
you wouldn’t have seen my face, so… It could
have been me.
Q: It must be hard to find a realistic
match for your body.
JB: Yeah, that was really hard to
find But it was…
Q: Did you have approval?
JB: I did have approval. I did. It was
just so strange. It was so bizarre.
Q: Did you know what types of parts you
were looking for or the ones that
you really wanted?
JB: Yeah. (laughs) Yeah, I thought hmm.
D’s might be interesting. It was such a weird
process. It was so weird. I wanted something
that looked real. I wanted something that looked
like me, but it’s amazing how many different
styles of breasts there are. You just don’t
realize. I mean I guess being a woman – I’m sure
you guys are like “Yeah, boobs, I’ve seen ‘em.
Like look at all the different shapes.” We don’t
know. I mean these women kept coming – I’m like
another new set? I mean they looked different.
They all looked so different, and it was a
really bizarre experience ‘cause I’m just kind
of sitting back there like objectifying these
women. I felt very… I felt almost bad that I was
like just looking at them…
Q: But they wanted… They choose to have a
whole range of different types…
JB: Oh yeah.
Q: How did the process play out?
JB: Just checking women out for like
hours. “Hi, how are you? Yes, get naked. Thank
you. Oh, not bad.” I mean it was really strange.
You know, it’s… The casting directors who cast
for body doubles – they get pictures like, you
know, whatever picture you have in, you know, in
the least amount of clothing. Like say for
"Summer Catch" or for this they would get my
picture and say “Okay, let’s try to find girls
that, you know, kind of resemble this type of
body,” so they sent all these really tall, like
lanky like model girls in, and I was like “You
know, guys? Send in some athletes.” So they went
and got all these dancers and like these
gymnasts who looked so much more like me, you
know, much shorter and, you know, just more kind
of muscular and more shapely than … And these
women are walking in, I’m like “This is like a
runway model. I don’t look like a runway model.
This is not right.” So it took a few times to
get it right, and to start seeing women who I
thought, you know, more resembled my body, but,
you know, bodies are so different, and no matter
how many people I saw they just did not look
like me. So the one girl that we finally ended
up picking, you know, she had real looking
breasts and they didn’t really look like mine,
but it was close enough, and she had a nice
looking bottom and … You know, it’s weird. I
still look at the screen now and I’m just like
“That looks nothing like me, but hey, nobody
knows. So whatever.”
Q: What are doing now? What are you
choosing to do next? How do you make those
choices?
JB: I’ve been pretty concentrated just on
working. Sort of by choice, but sort of by this
is the right thing to do and I’ve gotta, you
know, kind of hit while the iron’s hot and take
advantage of this opportunity. But I think
actually now I’m going to have more of a life.
I’m not working on anything right now. I don’t
have something coming up.
Q: What are you going to do?
JB: I’m going to go home to my new house
and try to kind of furnish it and put some
wallpaper up and hang out with my friends and
barbecue in my backyard and…
Q: Someone to go home to?
JB: I have one dog. I really want to get
another puppy, but I don’t know how I'm going to
do that. I don’t know when I’m going to travel
again.
Q: How are you furnishing it?
JB: I think I want to buy… I don’t know.
I don’t know … My house is kind of…
Q: Do you know what you want it to be?
JB: Yeah, like I like dark. I like dark
wood. I like antique stuff, but it’s so
expensive and I’d have trouble trying to find
something I can justify.
Q: Where is it?
JB: This is good. Ventura, okay.
Q: After you train your puppy.
JB: After… yeah.
Q: Don’t buy any rugs.
JB: No, I’m not buying any rugs. That’s
for sure.
Q: What kind of dog do you have?
JB: I have a Bull Dog.
Q: Thank you Jessica... It's been a
pleasure.
JB: No
Problem. Thank you.
END INTERVIEW
