Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple will serve as executive producers of 'Candy' through their Iron Ocean Productions. Image Press Agency

Jessica Biel books first on-camera role in two years

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated Oct 5, 2021 5:25 PM ET

Jessica Biel is returning to crime.

According to Deadline's Peter White on Tuesday, Biel is set to portray real-life ax murderer Candy Montgomery in Hulu's forthcoming limited true-crime series titled Candy. Montgomery murdered Betty Gore, her friend from church, on June 13, 1980, in Wylie, Texas.

"It comes after the project landed at the streamer last year with The Handmaid’s Tale and Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss in the lead role," White relayed. "Deadline understands Moss dropped out due to scheduling conflicts."

Biel and Michelle Purple will also serve as executive producers through their Iron Ocean Productions.

Biel's last on-screen role came in 2019, when she starred as Lia Haddock on Facebook Watch's Limetown. The series followed Lia, an American Public Radio journalist, while she attempted to solve the mysterious disappearance of more than 300 people in Tennessee. It was canceled after one season.

Prior to Limetown, Biel played Cora Tannetti for the first season of USA Network's anthology series The Sinner in 2017. The 39-year-old earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for the role, which explored the layered traumas that led to Biel's confusing violent outburst.

Biel served as an executive producer on both projects, as well as Freeform's breakout teen thriller series Cruel Summer that premiered earlier this year.

Megan Armstrong

Megan Armstrong (@megankarmstrong) is a writer whose work has appeared in places such as Billboard, GQ, Esquire, Bleacher Report, Uproxx, and others. Megan has also produced various podcasts and hosted a daily radio show at Mizzou. She grew up obsessed with sports — impressing adults by memorizing NFL statistics as a kindergartner — and grew into an obsession with music

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