Jessica Biel was not the typical girl growing up, and reveals that she was far more interested in “pits full of snakes” and “playing sex with Barbies” than her female peers.
The “Total Recall” actress, who is engaged to Justin Timberlake, tells W Magazine that she was a tomboy growing up. She says one of her first memories was going to see the classic ’80s movie “The Goonies,” which crystallized the gender divide for her.
JESSICA BIEL SHOWS OFF ENGAGEMENT RING
“I never identified with girls, and the cast was all boys. Girls were nervous about going into caves; they were scaredy-cats—and I wasn’t into that at all,” said Biel. “I loved the idea of being with a crew and having an adventure. I was really interested in pits full of snakes.”
While Biel says that she did have Barbies, the girliest of dolls, she was more interested in playing with them the way boys typically do.
“It was always, ‘Let’s play sex with Barbies!’ My Barbies were usually naked,” said Biel. “Once, I took their heads off, cut their hair, drew on their short, spiky hair with some markers, then stuck the heads on Christmas lights. Every year, we’d string our tree with those Barbie heads. It looked demonic. My parents were so cool—they saw it as a form of self-expression.”
Biel says that now, her tomboy public persona is perhaps too safe.
“I think I need to destroy my reputation. This whole I’m outdoorsy, I’m really healthy—it’s too squeaky-clean,” she says. “That’s going to be my new thing: Go dark and unhealthy. It’s time to be very, very bad.”