Why Jessica Biel Was Planning on ‘Quitting’ Hollywood

“I’m quitting. I’m not doing this. I don’t know — if this show doesn’t sell, I don’t know what people want, I don’t know what to bring them,” Biel said of pitching ‘The Sinner’ to networks after facing setback after setback with her production company, Iron Ocean Studios.

While on the The Bright Side podcast earlier this week, Biel recalled the struggles she faced after starting her production company, Iron Ocean studios, alongside producing partner, Michelle Purple.

“Doors did not open at all, even being in the business for so long,” Biel, who started the company back in 2004, shared. “I started it with [Purple] when I was twenty-two, and for the first ten years, we had almost no success at all. We had a very challenging time getting any story told.”

It was “a labor of love” for quite some time, Biel said, with the pair facing setback after setback, until they were introduced to The Sinner.

The crime anthology was Biel and Purple’s last straw, with the 42-year-old actress recalling how they were to quit if the show didn’t get picked up.

“When we were actually selling that show, Michelle and I looked at each other and she said, ‘If we don’t sell this show, I’m quitting.’ And I said, ‘Me too, I’m quitting. I’m not doing this,” Biel recounted. “I don’t know – if this show doesn’t sell, I don’t know what people want, I don’t know what to bring them. I don’t understand this business anymore. I just don’t get it anymore.'”

“And then we sold it in the room,” she added of the USA network series, which premiered in 2017 and ran for four seasons. “It was so weird.”

Biel went on to call the production company “a very humbling experience,” before detailing the difficulties she’s experienced since entering Hollywood as a teen.

“I don’t find that my industry — or, being an actor or producer — is easy in any way, shape or form. It is so much blood, sweat and tears that you put into getting these projects made, and so many of the things we work on never, ever come to fruition,” Biel said.

Biel not only produced the series, she starred in its first season. Premiering to great success and fan support, The Sinner earned Biel her first-ever Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for the role, which also marked her return to television following her years-long on the family drama, 7th Heaven.

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Speaking to People following her nomination in 2018, Biel touched on how the series compared to the way her career started on TV.

“Working in television now is such a different thing than it was back then. There’s so much opportunity and there are so many people that want to take risks and give women the kind of opportunities that we’ve been dying for and dreaming about our whole career,” Biel said.

Starring Bill Pullman as Detective Harry Ambrose as he investigated a different homicide each season, the show has seen a slew of super stars grace its cast. In addition to Biel, Matt Bomer, Chris Messina, Christopher Abbott, Carrie Coon and more, have starred in the series across its four seasons.

“[The Sinner] was one of those things. It felt freeing. It was an incredibly creatively open and free experience. It was nothing but a joy to film that show,” she added of the series.

The show, in part, has helped kick up a resurgence for Biel’s career, earning her roles in the gripping true-crime re-telling, Candy, and producing credits on shows like Cruel Summer.