The real Biel: Cosmo chats with Jessica to get caught up off her funny new flick, how she got that rockin' body, and what it's like having the most smokin' guys on the planet after her. Hope you're taking notes.(COSMO NEWS: interview)(Interview)(Cover story)

Jessica Biel has been feeling particularly fearless these days. "My latest thing is that I want to do everything that scares me," she says after ordering an egg, ham, and cheese sandwich with fries at a chic hotel in Santa Monica, California (a meal, it should be noted, that would induce panic in most other Hollywood starlets). The Colorado--raised 25-year-old recently got up the guts to go skydiving and conquered her fear of singing in public by belting out "Endless Love" at a piano bar in Paris. She is even thinking about traveling to Africa or Vietnam--all by herself.

Taking risks has been paying off professionally too. She recently took on dramatic roles in the Iraq war film Home of the Brave and the highly acclaimed turn-of-the-century magician flick The Illusionist opposite Ed Norton and Paul Giamatti, a part she acknowledges she had to vie pretty hard for. "I don't give up easily," she says proudly. "Sometimes, you have to put yourself on the line when you want something and just hope that you don't get laughed at."

This month, getting people to crack up will be a sign of a job well done* In her new movie, the comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Jessica portrays a gay-fights attorney who ends up falling for her client, played by Adam Sandier, who is pretending to be coupled up with Kevin James's character to receive domestic-partner benefits. "Finally, I get to play the goofy outgoing girl, which is much more my real personality," she says. Case in point: Site and her group of girlfriends have a tradition of getting dressed up in crazy '70s clothes and neon wigs and going roller-skating at a Los Angeles rink. The other night, they even donned the wigs to stay in and play board games. "I am just not this aloof and sexy woman," she says.

Not sexy? There are maybe, oh, several million men who would disagree with that statement ... starting with Derek Jeter (they were photographed frolicking on a beach in Puerto Rico this past winter), Justin Timberlake (they famously flirted at a Golden Globes after-party), and her Blade: Trinity costar Ryan Reynolds (they reportedly took their close friendship to a new level this past spring).

Jessica waves off this laundry list of alleged boyfriends. In fact, she's hasn't revealed anything about her love life since splitting from her on-again, off-again boyfriend of five years, actor Chris Evans, last summer. "No matter where I go or who I see, we get linked together. All of a sudden, I'm supposedly dating someone I might have known for 10 years ... or even my cousin," she says. "I don't feel the need to settle down right now. And if I do meet somebody, I don't feel the need for the paperwork of marriage. A verbal agreement is enough."

Perhaps the only thing more buzzed about than her romantic interludes is her rocking body. Today, dressed in a navy Mayle blouse, True Religion skinny jeans, and a pair of white Roger Vivier pumps (a splurge from that recent trip to Paris), it's easy to see what all the hype is about. She's curvy and superfit at the same time and not the least bit interested in being as bone-thin as some of her famous peers. "There is so much pressure to look a certain way in this town," she explains. "But it's nice to have a little meat on you, and I hope that I inspire women to appreciate their muscular calves."

That's not to say Jessica doesn't work hard at looking good. To maintain her buff physique, she does yoga; walks her dog, Tina (a pit-bull-mix breed); hits the gym three or four times a week; and plays volleyball with friends on the weekends during the summer. But when she's not training for a film, the down-to-earth beauty doesn't restrict her diet. She has a rapidly disappearing pile of french fries to prove it.