Audiences came to know and love Biel during her stint on 7th Heaven, but the actress parted ways with the show and its creators in 2000. Anxious to break away from the good-girl image she felt the show saddled her with, Biel chose to pose topless in Gear magazine — never mind the fact that she was just 17 at the time. Her plan worked, and once the actress was freed from her TV obligations, she attached her name to edgier teen projects like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. She also claims that her image lost her a major role in American Beauty, which was later played by Thora Birch. Returning to the show that gave her career its initial boost, Biel reprised her Heaven role in episodes leading up to the 2006 season finale. Most recently, the actress starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the 2006 films The Illusionist and Home of the Brave.