Jessica honored with 'Rising Star' title

Jessica is doing a lot of impressing these days. Not only has she been dating baseball star Derek Jeter, she also received a Breakthrough Award from Hollywood Magazine on Sunday, and now will get a Rising Star Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.

Reportedy, festival chairman Earl Greenburg said she's being recognized for her performances in "The Illusionist" and the soon-to-be-released "Home of the Brave."

She'll join male Rising Star Adam Beach at the Jan. 6 gala held at presumably a luxury hotel in Palm Springs. Greenburg said she hadn't been available to commit to the gala when the first Rising Star was named.

"Much like our other awardee, she actually has a real body of work that goes beyond her work in 'The Illusionist,'" he said.

"The Illusionist," which opened in August, has already earned an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. It was adapted from a short story, but Jessica's character, a duchess who falls in love with an illusionist played by Edward Norton, wasn't in the original story.

The role is such a departure for her, writer-director Neil Burger says she wasn't even considered until she got an audition.

Jessica was unavailable for comment Wednesday while filming the comedy "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," due out July 20.

Her recent roles include "London," Cameron Crowe's "Elizabethtown," and "Stealth."

Biel joins such festival honorees as Sydney Pollack, Kate Winslet, the cast of "Babel" including Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Todd Field and the film "Little Miss Sunshine."