Jessica Biel: Justin Timberlake Wasn’t Paid For The Role Of ‘Candy’

Spoiler alert: Don’t read if you haven’t watched all five episodes of “Candy,” which is now streaming on Hulu.

“Candy” viewers knew that Melanie Linsky’s real-life husband, Jason Ritter, was appearing in the new series — but they weren’t expecting to see Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel’s husband, as one of the other cops working on the Betty murder case.

As it turns out, Timberlake’s idea was to join the true crime show. While the duo often shared texts and notes with each other, this time around was a little different.

“He liked the episodes too, and he said, ‘Who’s this guy playing? And I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know. Probably an Atlanta local. We don’t have any money left. We’ve spent it all on our main cast and this is one of the last cast members we need to represent.’ diverse. He said: I want to do that. And I really thought, “Okay, that’s funny. I’d like you to do this, but I know that’s not really real. It’s like, no, no, no. For real. I see how funny that can be, but he’s the one who really sees her story. He’s her opponent.” Main. Right from the start, he didn’t believe it for a second.”

After making sure Timberlake was serious, Bell called her producing partner, Michelle Purple. By the time I called, Purple had already spoken to Timberlake. The next step was to contact creators Robin Veith and Nick Antosca, as well as director Mike Uppendahl. Then they all sat down with Timberlake.

“All he wants is a prosthetic belly and a wig. Then he said, ‘You don’t have to pay me anything. Just make sure I have a wig that I want, and make sure I have a prosthetic tummy,'” Bell recalls. “We’re like, we can do it!”

A few weeks later, when the producers were working on the selection of another police officer, Faith thought of Ritter—especially when they realized that at the show’s conclusion, the two police officers would reenact what had happened. Timberlake plays Biel’s Candy while Ritter takes on Melanie’s Betty.

Our heads exploded. It was very funny. We laughed so hard at the idea, and it turned out to be so pretty, because these two must have their own comedic boyfriend. “They are so much fun together,” Bell says. “We already know that Justin is such a comedic genius. Jason is incredible. I mean it’s no surprise, but wow. It was great watching them work together.”

Bell added that it was “nervous” when they started filming together.

“At first I felt a little bit like, ‘Oh my God, am I going to be able to be free and will my nerves get the best of me, because now my partner is sitting across from me? I wasn’t sure, but it was just the opposite, she says. “The improvisation was very relaxing and easy to improvise and they made this environment more fun than it usually was because they really improvise together. It kind of gave me the freedom to do that as well. I think he’s just a huge supporter of me in our relationship and at work, both personally and personally, so he kept a lot of good, sacred space for me to feel comfortable. And I would do the same to him. I hope he feels the same way. But it was very fun to be opponents, that’s for sure.”

Bell hopes that one day she and Timberlake will be able to work together again on screen.

“I think we’ve always been kind of curious, like, ‘OK, when is that going to happen and what should it be?’ It has to be the right thing,” she says. “If you’re going to play a potential romantic or something, that’s really special. You have to do it really well. This is a really safe place to explore what it’s like to be on opposite sides, then what’s the next step from here? What can we do after this? It definitely opened my mind to thinking of other things we can work on together.”