What To Know
- Jessica Biel, executive producer of the 7th Heaven reboot, aims to modernize the show by addressing current issues.
- Biel emphasizes maintaining the family-friendly spirit of the original while creating a safe, creative environment for cast and crew.
- She will not reprise her role as Mary Camden and, as of now, no premiere date for the reboot has been announced.
Jessica Biel dished on the 7th Heaven reboot — including how she plans to “modernize” the show while creating a “safe space” without holding back.
In an October interview with Collider Ladies Night, Biel opened up about how the reboot will be different from the original series. She played Mary Camden in the show, which follows a reverend, his wife, and their seven children through their trials and tribulations.
“What we want to create, how we want to modernize it, is really the things that are happening for teenagers and families that have teenagers all the way down to the youngest child — technology-based issues, school stuff, bullying stuff, drugs, alcohol,” she explained.
Biel, 44, who is an executive producer for the reboot, continued, “All of those things we want to address in a very real way, which is, I think, what the original kind of gently touched on, but we were very careful about what our audience wanted. We had a lot of limitations. We have less limitations now.”
Additionally, the former child actress promised, “We still want to keep the DNA of what it was, where you can sit down and watch with your families, but we’re not going to hold back, I think, as much as we did before.”
For those wondering, no, Biel does not plan to reprise her role as Mary. Her focus as EP, instead, is to create “a safe place for people to be really creative and really vulnerable.”
She shared, “A lot of the stuff that I’m doing now, the content that I’m doing now, it’s emotional stuff. It’s people really putting themselves out there on the chopping block emotionally. And if you don’t have that space protected, I think it’s hard. It’s hard to give those kinds of performances.”
Biel added, “So, I think that’s what I’m constantly trying to do as a producer is just build out that space where everyone feels like they will be taken care of, and it’s safe, you know?”
As of writing, a premiere date has not been announced for the 7th Heaven reboot.
7th Heaven aired for 11 seasons from 1996 to 2007. In addition to Biel, the show starred Stephen Collins as Rev. Eric Camden, Catherine Hicks as Annie Camden, Beverley Mitchell as Lucy, Mackenzie Rosman as Ruthie, David Gallagher as Simon, Barry Watson as Matt, Lorenzo Brino as Sam, and Nikolas Brino as David, among others.
7th Heaven, streaming on Paramount+