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Jessica Biel continues to prove that she is the perfect woman. She's done sexy, and then some. She's done kick-ass chicks, taking on vampires and Leatherface. Now she's really being a mature adult too, first as defiant lover in The Illusionist and now as a wounded soldier returning home from Iraq in Home of the Brave. She plays Vanessa, an Iraqi war veteran who loses her hand in battle. Coming home, she adjusts not only to a prosthetic but to the distance she feels from her boyfriend and family. So, we won't be talking about bikini lines and ab workouts in this interview.

CraveOnline: What response have you gotten from veterans who've seen the film so far?

Jessica Biel: I haven't really spoken to many veterans who have seen the film yet honestly. So I'm curious to know what they have to say. That's the people I'm really curious to know because we want to portray their stories and their experiences truthfully, as close as possible.

CO: Did doing this film change the way you felt about the situation in Iraq?

Biel: It's made me a lot more aware. It's given me a much greater appreciation for the soldiers. I mean, you watch the news and you think, "God, this is horrible. Everyone's dying and everyone's having their legs and arms amputated." But you don't think any further. You don't really think about well, what is that like? How do you come home? I didn't have a clue how difficult it was until I actually started speaking with a couple female amputees and a couple sergeants who also had families and who experienced this. It just never ends. It's hell. These women, what these people go through, just the pain never ends. The judgment never ends. This war, some people are supportive, some people aren't supportive. I just can't imagine it. I really have a different perspective on it now.

CO: How open were the women amputees to this Hollywood actress coming in?

Biel: You know, I didn't even have to convince them. I work with a couple charities, even before I actually started working on the film which is just sort of coincidental, called Serving Those Who Serve and Rebuilding Together. Both are charities that are supportive of veterans when they come home, first in the hospital and paying for the families to join them for rehabilitation. Then coming home and then basically rebuilding their home and helping them start to slowly step back into normalcy. So we called them, and said, "Who can I talk to?" My father is also part of it so he called for me, he said, "Would there be a woman who had something similar to this injury that would be willing to speak with us?" This one woman said, "Absolutely, no problem, I would love to." There was not even a question. I was basically on the phone call to her I said, "I want to do your story justice and I hope that if you will be honest with me and open, that I will be able to take this information, not tell anybody about it but use it to make choices for this character that you will be proud of." So I told her that and she never questioned me. I don't think she felt uncomfortable. She was really extremely open and told me some really intimate details of her recovery and her emotional state.

CO: Did working with the special effect on your arm make it harder to concentrate on acting or easier to feel like you were in her situation?

Biel: I think it was easier to get into it. Wearing this glove that I wore, it made me really aware of my hand at all times which I think was important because I would be aware if I didn't have it. If the arm was gone, you'd be aware of it, but when you have it, you're not aware. So having something on my hand and having to keep my hand still at all times was really helpful to keep me conscious of the fact that I'm wearing a prosthetic and that people are looking at it. It was easier to really feel an honest emotion of embarrassment or anger.

CO: Did you try to do everyday things in the prosthetic?

Biel: What was interesting, I was in wardrobe fittings and not wearing this glove because it hadn't been prepared yet, and tying shoes. I was trying on a pair of shoes and tying these sneakers and I was tying it with both hands and realized wait, I only have… I can't… so I had to try it with one hand and realized that doesn't work. So we just stopped, literally stopped the wardrobe fitting going, "This is wrong. We have buttons, we have hair ties and clips and I can't clip anything. I need Velcro for the shoes, I need clips for the hair." Those are the things that started to realize after thinking about the prosthetic and using it a little bit that you don't remember the small little details that you use both your hands for and how important both your hands are and how much you miss one hand when it's not available.

CO: Has Hollywood reacted to this yet? Are people surprised to see you give this kind of performance?

Biel: I think yeah. I think a lot of people that I've spoken to just today, this is actually the first day that I really talked to anybody about the film. They seem surprised. A lot of people seem surprised by the performance. I think also because it's not so glamorous.  I want my work to be based on my performance and not the way I look. I guess I can understand how people would have mistaken that because in the past I've done much different things, much more glamorous things. You do what you gotta do. You know that saying, kind of one for them, one for you, that's sort of true I think. So this one's for me. But people have been surprised. That's nice. I take that as a compliment. I hope to keep surprising people.
 
CO: Was this a role you sought out?
 
Biel: You know, actually, it wasn't, which is unique for me. I'm usually always fighting to the death for things. But this one was just one that I happened to read, and I met with Irwin, and he offered it to me. So I didn't even have to audition, which sort of scares me to death. I sort of feel like I should deserve it and show what I can do before I have to show up on set. I feel like there's much more pressure. But I actually ended up doing a lot of auditioning for the Cary role, the boyfriend at the end of the movie. So that was sort of different for me. I was on the other side of it, auditioning all these guys. Kind of really cool.

CO: How did you audition the guys? Is it hard rejecting people?
 
Biel: Yeah, it is hard to reject people. But it is important. I mean, I think casting is huge, and I just wanted someone who's a really good actor, and someone who was a little bit older, who you would believe would be a kind of a coach and a P.E. teacher at a high school. And he had to be good, and he had to be like a gentle person to care about this woman who has this disability. And he really honestly doesn't care about it. There was a quality, like a warm quality that I was looking for. And obviously, Irwin had the final say. I mean, I wasn't the one who was making the check, for sure. But there were guys that would walk out of the room, and we would go, "No." I mean, obviously, we never do it in front of them. But for whatever reason, just weren't right for it. I mean, it's always weird, because I know what it's like in an audition room. It's so hard. But I was reading with them, so I felt like I was giving 100% all the time. So at least I hope they had a good audition experience.

CO: Are you going to see your first "for your consideration" ads this year?
 
Biel: Oh God, I don't know! Did I see one earlier today? I think I saw one today. It's very cool in writing. It's much different in your fantasy. [laughs]
 
CO: Have you had that fantasy? You've made the speech in front of the mirror?
 
Biel: Oh yeah. Oh yeah, absolutely! [laughs]
 
CO: How do you not think about it while you're doing the work?
 
Biel: Well, you know, the truth is, you really don't make these movies thinking, "Oh, this one's it. This is going to get me my Academy Award." You know, you don't think about that. You think, "I love this story, I love this character. I can't wait to play this character." And it comes out and people start talking about it, and it's exciting. It is, definitely when you might be possibly getting recognized for something. But that's sort of where it ends.

CO: Could you talk about the love scene, where it's awkward with the prosthetic but he's so understanding and you end up laughing? 

Biel: Sure. That scene was actually not really in the script. There was definitely like the skeleton of the love scene, with a kiss and then maybe moved down onto the bed. It was very serious. And I just had a problem with it from the very beginning. I just was talking to [director] Irwin [Winkler]. I feel like for her to actually really start to chip away at this hard shell that she's put around herself, there needs to be humor. I feel like laughter is the cure. And there hadn't been any in the movie. And I thought for my character, for me, she needs that. There was something cathartic about laughing. And I was talking to my other actor, my co-star Jeff about it, about it's got to silly, it's got to be awkward. I mean, the first sexual intimate experience you have with somebody is never perfect. It's always weird. Right? Right? Okay. [Laughs] Right, which is exactly what we were trying to get away from. You know, something awkward, something funny. She's never done this before. How do you get your shirt out? How do you be sexy? And so it was kind of my idea to like let it just go kind of wild and funny.

CO: What keeps you grounded? Your family? 

Biel: I have an amazing family, for sure. I mean, I just have never been treated any differently from my parents or my family, or my friends for that matter. I've always had friends who weren't in the business, none of my family's in the business, I live in Colorado. I'm from Colorado, live here now, but I will always be from Colorado and have a place there. I just have always had a cool job. It's sort of always the way I've thought about it. And my parents would really kick my ass if they heard I was treating people any differently and taking advantage of the success and the luck that I have had in this business. So I think a huge part is their part, for sure.

CO: You did a wonderful thing this summer auctioning off that lunch date for charity. How did the date go?

Biel: It was good. It was really great, actually. He was a total gentleman, and we had lunch. We had like an hour and a half, couple hour lunch, and that was sort of it. [laughs] He was sort of simple.
 
CO: What did you talk about? Did he ask about your movies?
 
Biel: Yeah. Yeah. He was curious about what I was doing and my films, and I was kind of curious about what he was doing, even thought he was doing something like investment banking. I'm like, "What? Let's talk about movies again." [laughs] But he was sweet. He was really sweet, and nice. It was good.