Jessica Biel wants to make a family drama that takes bullying, drugs and alcohol seriously enough for teenagers to recognize their own lives in it. The original 7th Heaven touched on those subjects, she said, but its writers were careful about how far their audience wanted them to go.
Biel has two viewers in mind at home. Her sons, Silas, 11, and Phineas, 6, both love television. She and her husband, Justin Timberlake, work in entertainment, yet she says they struggle to find shows they can sit down and watch with both boys.
Biel was 14 when she made her debut as Mary Camden on The WB in August 1996. Mary was the eldest daughter of Eric, a Protestant minister, and his wife, Annie. Their family eventually grew to seven children in the fictional California town of Glen Oak.
Nearly two decades after the series ended, Biel is helping develop a reboot at CBS Studios as an executive producer. In an October interview with Perri Nemiroff on Collider Ladies Night, she explained which parts of the Camdens’ world she thinks still belong on television.
What Biel Wants Writers to Explore More Directly
Nemiroff asked what had held up about the original and what needed updating. Biel pointed to the role technology plays in children’s lives and the problems they bring home from school. She wants stories that take the youngest child’s experience as seriously as a teenager’s. “We had a lot of limitations. We have less limitations now,” she told Collider.
The Camdens had faced some of those problems in back-to-back episodes. In the sixth-season episode “Suspicion,” Ruthie stood up for a Muslim friend targeted by bullies. In the next episode, “Drunk,” Simon came home intoxicated from a party, leaving his siblings to decide what to do. Both episodes are available on Paramount+.
Faith is one element Biel would keep. She thinks television gives too little attention to the place belief and community have in some families’ lives. She also wants the new household to share some of the Camdens’ optimism, even when a problem takes time to resolve.
From Playing Mary Camden to Producing With Michelle Purple
Brenda Hampton’s original series ran for 11 seasons and ended in May 2007. That same year, Biel and Michelle Purple founded Iron Ocean. They had met while Biel was working on the action film Stealth in her early 20s. Purple, an experienced producer, became someone the young actress could turn to on set.
Biel went on to star in and executive produce The Sinner and Candy. In the longer interview, she described what she looks for on set before an emotionally demanding scene. An actor needs to feel comfortable speaking openly with the crew, she said, and she considers it part of a producer’s job to earn that trust.
The Plan for a New Family at CBS Studios
When the project first surfaced in May 2025, the plan was to follow a new, diverse family. People familiar with the project said the original cast members were not expected to appear, according to Variety.
Anthony Sparks, who ran Queen Sugar and worked as an executive producer on Bel-Air, is attached as showrunner and executive producer. DeVon Franklin is producing through Franklin Entertainment alongside Biel and Purple at Iron Ocean.
The reboot remains in development. A network or streaming home, cast and premiere date have yet to be announced.