The Real Biel

JESSICA BIEL may have started out as a PASTOR’S DAUGHTER in 7th Heaven, but she’s turned HOMICIDAL HOUSEWIFE in the recently released series The Sinner. It’s just the role she’s been waiting for

- Kimberly Cutter

What’s it like to murder someone? Jessica Biel has a lot to say on the subject, but at the beginning of our interview, I worry. We’re at The Palm Court of New York’s Plaza Hotel for afternoon tea, and Jessica – who stars in the riveting eight-episode psychological thriller The Sinner – arrives looking so poised and ladylike, I can’t imagine her opening up about anything.

She’s dressed in a chic black Self-Portrait tulle-and-crêpe jumpsuit, with a black embroidered capelet tied primly at the neck. Her high, sweeping cheekbones and wide, green cat eyes are framed by dark bangs and long, pin-straight hair. Her skin is so fine it looks airbrushed.

‘Sorry, I’ve been at press events all day,’ says Jessica, smiling and flushing slightly as she sits down. Her manner is polite, but slightly reserved, with the calm self-possession of a longtime yoga devotee. ‘Normally, I look like you.’ By this, presumably, she means jeans and an old black sweater, because, let’s be honest, no-one looks like Jessica Biel. She’s such an off-the-charts beauty that she’s had to fight to get Hollywood to take her seriously as an actor.