Dress by Dolce & Gabbana
In the new film Easy Virtue, set in the ’30s, Jessica Biel plays Larita Whittaker—a glamorous, secretive American who visits her young English husband’s stuffy family at their sprawling estate and (to say the least) shakes a bit of frost from the trees. Striding through scenes in the era’s timelessly chic trousers, jackets and evening gowns while tossing a perfectly coiffed head (most often in defiance), it’s easy to see why she was cast in the role.
The film, which debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival this spring and also stars Ben Barnes, Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas, is a playful take on a familiar period piece. But it also allowed Biel to throw herself into a character who decidedly marches to her own drummer, including riding a motorcycle through a stiffly traditional fox hunt and accidentally sitting on (and crushing to death) the family’s Chihuahua. The scenes are acerbic, funny and unexpected. And although Biel has hit nearly every genre in her career—drama (The Illusionist), collegial angst (The Rules of Attraction), comedy (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry), horror (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)—she views Easy Virtue as a bit of a breakthrough. It’s not just the caliber of the film she’s talking about; it’s the opportunity to play a complex, challenging character that would bolster any actress’s repertoire.
“I thought she was pretty amazing,” Biel says. “She’s so effortlessly witty and sarcastic and fantastic and glamorous and tough—all the characteristics that I want to be as an actual woman. And she’s cool as a cucumber…but at the same time extremely vulnerable, and a real person who is hurt by these experiences. She’s not just a stone.”
Dress by Dolce & Gabbana; shoes by Jimmy Choo; ring by Tiffany & Co.
Relaxed and grounded during a recent interview in New York (where she tries to spend as much time as possible), Biel is a study in normalcy existing within a dream world. Normal: She was born in Ely, Minnesota, and enjoyed a typical upbringing in Boulder, Colorado. “It was a blast,” she says. “Pretty much all about sports and hanging out with my friends and being outside and snowboarding and skiing. We spent a lot of time outside, just messing around, hiking, mountain biking—everything.” Dream world: A few days after our chat, a Versace-clad Biel attended the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the arm of her boyfriend (and the evening’s cohost), Justin Timberlake.
