Jessica Biel Spearheading ‘7th Heaven’ Reboot, Promises ‘Less Limitations’ Than Original Series

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Jessica Biel

One of the most beloved family dramas of the late 1990s and early 2000s is poised to make a comeback.

Jessica Biel, who got her start on “7th Heaven,” is working to reboot the series, which debuted in 1997 and enjoyed a successful 10-season run until ending in 2007.

‘Less Limitations Now’

During a recent appearance on the “Collider Ladies Night” podcast, Biel revealed that she’s in the midst of developing a “7th Heaven” reboot, through her own Iron Ocean production company.

In this new iteration of the series, however, she won’t be reprising her role as eldest Camden daughter Mary; in fact, her participation in the potential new series will be strictly behind the scenes as a producer.

According to Biel, the new “7th Heaven” won’t be steeped in nostalgia, but will be relevant to the modern issues teenagers are facing right now.

“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. “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.”

That said, she also envisions a new “7th Heaven” that will also be familiar to fans of the original series.

“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,” she added.

‘A Safe Place’

During the conversation, Biel also opened up about her role as producer on the reboot, and her intention of creating a safe space for everyone involced.

“When I’m on set as a producer, I’m always thinking about the safety net of the set and the communication that you hope you can have — free-flowing communication with your actors and your crew,” she explained.

“You just want to create a safe place for people to be really creative and really vulnerable, because a lot of the stuff that I’m doing now, the content that I’m doing now, it’s emotional stuff,” she continued.

“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 shared, adding, “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?”