Jessica Biel worked with David O. Russell on “Nailed” in 2008, and the film has never seen the light of day. As we all know, this is due to the fact that David Bergstein and Capitol Pictures handled their money poorly, to say the least, and caused the film to wrap up before one key scene was re-filmed. That doesn’t mean that Jesse’s time on set was a waste, for two reasons… One, I still hold hope that I will one day be enjoying the film that is “Nailed.” Two, David O. Russell is an avid believer in Jesse’s talents.

While “Elle” was gathering content for their January 2013 issue, which features the gorgeous shoot by Thomas Whiteside, they caught up with several Directors who have worked with Jessica, including “Hitchock’s“ Sacha Geravasi. In the interview he reveals that before Jesse’s audition, Russell advised him “don’t underestimate Jessica Biel, she’s utterly brilliant.” Gervasi goes on to say that Russell was “absolutely right.”

Gervasi also goes into detail on Jesse’s audition with Sir Anthony Hopkins, saying “she took in stride. She was incredibly prepared, and she gave as good as she got to him. Tony is a force, and Jessica more than matched it. She was so bright and funny and at the same time seriously good. I think she surprised everyone, including Tony. Many great actresses were pursuing this role, but after she left the room Tony looked at me and said ‘That’s it, we’ve found our Vera.'”

All of this and more can be found in the January 2013 edition of Elle US!