Jessica Biel says she’s excited to return to the big screen after taking a break from movies for nearly a decade.
The 44-year-old actress opened up about her comeback during a recent appearance at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, where she was promoting Matchbox the Movie alongside her co-stars John Cena, Arturo Castro, Sam Richardson, and Teyonah Parris.
“Getting back into the film industry has been something that I’ve been really excited about doing,” Biel told People. “It has to be the right timing, and it has to be the right project.”
Biel said having two young children also played a big part in her decision, as she shares sons Silas, 11, and Phineas, 5, with husband Justin Timberlake.
“I have little kids, so there are a lot of things that go into a decision,” she said. “I loved this cast, the nostalgia and the chance to do an action movie again.”
The action-adventure film is based on Mattel’s popular Matchbox toy cars, following a group of childhood friends whose lives change after one of them, an undercover CIA agent played by John Cena, returns home and pulls them into a dangerous mission to save the world.
Biel said the movie reminded her of playing with Matchbox cars as a child.
“It makes you think about being a kid again,” she said. “We had a lot of Matchbox cars, and now I’m buying them for my kids.”
Directed by Sam Hargrave, Matchbox the Movie will begin streaming on Apple TV on October 9.
It is Biel’s first film since Shock and Awe, which was released in 2017. During her break from movies, she appeared in TV shows including Candy and The Better Sister.
