Jessica Biel’s Breakthrough: From Near Quitter to Emmy Nominee

How Perseverance Turned ‘The Sinner’ into a Hit Series

On the podcast *The Bright Side*, Jessica Biel revealed that she was on the verge of quitting Hollywood if she couldn’t sell *The Sinner*, which eventually found a home at USA Network and earned her Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.

“Doors did not open at all, even with my long-standing presence in the industry,” Biel shared. “I’ve had a production company with my partner, Michelle Purple, for 20 years. We started it when I was 22, and for the first decade, we had almost no success. It was extremely challenging to get any story told.”

Then they discovered *The Sinner*, a police procedural delving into the motivations of unlikely culprits. Biel explained that she and Purple “built that show from the ground up.”

“Michelle and I reached a point where she said, ‘If we don’t sell this show, I’m quitting,’” Biel recalled. “I responded, ‘Me too. If this show doesn’t sell, I don’t know what people want. I don’t understand this business anymore. I just don’t get it.’”

Biel described their struggle as a “humbling” experience.

“Being an actor or producer is not easy in any way. It involves so much blood, sweat, and tears to get projects made, and many never come to fruition.”

Biel starred alongside Bill Pullman in the first season of *The Sinner*, which premiered on USA Network in 2017, marking her first regular series role since *7th Heaven*. Afterward, she transitioned to an executive producer role.