THE BETTER SISTER Star Jessica Biel Covers INSTYLE’s Summer Issue

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From the mountains of Montana, Jessica Biel graces the cover of InStyle’s summer issue and candidly opens up about balancing fame and family in the spotlight. Ahead of her new series THE BETTER SISTER with Elizabeth Banks, Biel reflects on her evolution from teen star on 7TH HEAVEN to “fighting and advocating for myself for many, many years,” and getting to finally portray morally corrupt, complex women on screen.

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On her long-lasting relationship with Justin Timberlake: “I think having a partner who understands this industry and, adjacent industries like music industry, entertainment industry has been really deeply important and profound for my life and for our partnership because he just understands when I’m working crazy long hours and I understand, you know, that for him, too. I get it when he works all night long. That’s kind of normal, and I kind of know that. So we are able to support each other throughout strange schedules and time apart because we know that’s just what it takes to make this kind of art.”

On trading off work and childcare with her husband: “It really takes a village to raise any kid, let alone in a wild business like this where parents are traveling for long times for work,” she says. The goal in the Biel-Timberlake household is to alternate which parent is away—“sometimes we do a good job; we try to have one of us working full time, only one”—an effort to provide their children a sense of stability. “It doesn’t always happen, because the opportunities arise and the timing is what it is. You just have to take advantage of it.”

“We’re doing the same thing every other parent is doing: ‘Okay, tennis. You got the tennis? I’ll get the thing.’”

On Timberlake’s tour – being in awe + bringing her kids to the final leg: “It’s nice to give him some support,” she says. “It sounds so glamorous, tour life. It’s so lonely. They just go from hotel to airplane to car to hotel to venue to airplane to car. There’s a lot of recovery required to sing and dance. What they do on stage—his entire team—I’m in awe of these people.”

On what surprised her most about being a parent: “The thing that surprised me about being a parent, and surprised me about myself is that I actually might be the rule enforcer. Sometimes. But it’s not really my style. I just sort of thought Justin’s going to be the rule enforcer and that’s the way it’s gonna be. I’m a pisces, I’m more emotional, gentle, easygoing and whatever, but I’m kind of good at it. I drop a boundary and I’m like nope, you can’t cross it. It took a while to learn that, but it’s an important skill to have. And sometimes he can be really soft about things. Which I didn’t expect! We take turns, and I think that was surprising to me.”

On her chosen sisters, which includes her husband: “I’m really lucky, because I have amazing groups of women kind of scattered throughout the country that have really been my rocks as I’ve grown up.”

“I would also consider my husband one of my chosen sisters,” Biel adds with a chuckle. The next part is earnest: “He’s also my best friend. All of them together have gotten me through my life. I don’t know how I would have survived life without them.”

On social media: “I still think there’s something to be said about keeping a little bit of a mystique. Maybe that sounds crazy. It probably does, because I’m from a different generation, and that was part of what I was taught in this business: You don’t share everything. You share some things, and you keep a little mystery going on. It’s part of the smoke and mirrors of being in the entertainment business. We don’t do that anymore. We tell everybody everything, and there’s something really freeing about that, and refreshing. I understand that side of it, too,” she says. “I still feel like your private life is your private life, and that’s okay.”

On making decisions about putting her kids in the public eye and in front of cameras, particularly bringing her son to the U.S. Open: “My son was 9 at the time, and he’s a huge tennis fan—that’s his sport, that’s what he plays. We had this opportunity, and we talked about it. We talked about photographers. You know, ‘Are you comfortable with that?’ He can’t make these decisions on his own, but at this point, we can at least discuss what’s his opinion around it.” Ultimately, Biel chose to enjoy the mother-son date. “You really want to give your kids every experience. I don’t know if it was the right decision, to be honest with you, but he and I had a good time. …It’s scary every time. But it’s also their life. And so it’s this really tricky, tricky thing to figure out, what’s appropriate.”

On being “secretly a little afraid” of Beverly Mitchell while filming 7th Heaven: “I say this with all the love in the world—because I love her—She was tough, man. …I pushed her buttons. It was such a sisterly relationship. I think I did it because I looked up to her and I loved her. We got under each other’s skin in the best way possible.”

On spending time with family:  “Spending time with the family unit is a huge priority right now, because I’ve been gone, Justin’s been gone,” she says, adding that if she weren’t here with me this Saturday morning, working, then she’d probably be out skiing with Timberlake, getting a few runs in together before picking up the boys from ski school and spending the afternoon on the mountain with them. “These moments at this time feel kind of priceless.”

On the working mom juggle: “My producing partner, Michelle, she said one thing to me a long time ago. She goes, ‘Listen, all you can do is, when you’re working, you’re 100-percent working, and when you’re home, you’re 100-percent home. Do not take a work call when you’re at home with the kids. If you do it half-ass, you’re not good at anything.’ That was a good piece of advice.”

“I do feel like I’m often at the bottom of the totem pole, even though my husband is the best at trying to always help encourage me to take time for myself.”

On the roles that got away: “I realized that I was even more well-suited for that character, even though I was really excited about that more wild and, sort of, balls-out character, as Nicky is. … The universe just kind of opens up the right way, if you can flow with it. I think about moments in my career—I auditioned for The Notebook; [it’s] one of those ones that got away. What would my career have been like if I had the opportunity to do that movie? Clearly, that one wasn’t meant for me.”

On what’s ahead: “I still have a lot of big goals,” she tells me. “I still have a lot more that I’m curious if I’m capable of doing, that I think could be really interesting and also add a whole other layer to the work I’ve done in the past.”

[Photo Credit: Celeste Sloman/InStyle Magazine]

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