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Jessica Biel Had a Crush On 7th Heaven’s Barry Watson: ‘There Was No Chance for Us’

Young love? Jessica Biel recalled her teenage crush that she had while filming 7th Heaven, but there’s a reason it never worked out.

Related: ‘7th Heaven’ Stars: Then and Now

The Cruel Summer producer, 39, opened up about playing Mary Camden on Dax Shepard‘s “Armchair Expert” podcast on Monday, June 14, sharing that both she and Beverley Mitchell, who played her sister Lucy, were infatuated with one costar.

Jessica Biel Admits 7th Heaven Crush Barry Watson
Jessica Biel and Barry Watson. Shutterstock (2)

“I definitely remember Beverley and I had crushes on Barry [Watson], who played our older brother, but no one ever dated anybody,” Biel promised.

Shepard, 46, pointed out that his Parenthood siblings, Lauren Graham and Peter Krause, have been happily together for years. However, Biel noted that she wasn’t an adult on the drama. She was only 14 when the show began in 1996, while Watson was 22.

“He was dating, like, real-life women. We were 14 years old,” she said. “There was no chance for us. It was not happening.”

Related: See Celebrity Babies Born During the Coronavirus Pandemic

In 2016, Mitchell, 40, confirmed their crushes on her blog, Growing Up Hollywood. “I am pretty sure every teenage girl had a crush on Barry, I mean look at him. Jess and I did for a minute. I mean it really isn’t fair that he had better hair,” she wrote at the time.

While the women were just kids when they started their Hollywood careers, Biel admitted that she isn’t so sure she wants sons Silas, 6, and Phineas, 11 months, to follow in her and dad Justin Timberlake‘s footsteps.

“My knee-jerk reaction is ‘Oh, God no. Oh, please no,’” the Sinner star told Shepard when asked about Silas and Phineas’ future careers in the industry. “But then I look at these kids and I’m like, ‘Oh s–t, they’ll probably be musical.’ What are you going to do? Not let them play the piano or not let take a voice lesson if that’s their passion?”

Jessica Biel Admits 7th Heaven Crush Barry Watson
Jessica Biel, David Gallagher, Catherine Hicks, Beverley Mitchell, Barry Watson, Mackenzie Rosman and Stephen Collins of ‘7th Heaven’. Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock

Biel’s parents didn’t stand in her way when she wanted to get her career started, and she thinks she’ll follow their example — if she really has to.

Related: Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Through the Years

“I don’t want to be that parent to stifle a dream, but man, if my kid would just be, like, ‘Let’s go learn about corn in Iowa,’ I would so much more want them to be an engineer or something,” the actress divulged.

Luckily, the Limetown alum doesn’t have to worry about her sons’ career paths just yet. The working mom is focused on her production company, Iron Ocean, and their latest hit, Cruel Summer. Freeform renewed the series for a second season on Tuesday, June 15, hours before the finale airs at 10 p.m. ET.

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