Jessica Biel Joins Cast of Hugh Hefner Playboy Movie With Lily-Rose Depp, Role Revealed

Jessica Biel has joined the cast of an upcoming Searchlight Pictures drama set at the Playboy Mansion. Written and directed by Lorraine Nicholson, the movie is inspired by Nicholson’s childhood experiences visiting the famous Holmby Hills estate.

According to Deadline, Biel will play a fictional former Playboy Playmate in the upcoming movie Playmates. Her character is married to Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and not based on any one of Hefner’s real-life wives. Instead, she is a fictional composite created for the story. Biel’s character is part of the mansion’s household as its relationships and social dynamics unfold.

Nicholson previously detailed her childhood experiences at the Playboy Mansion in a 2024 Vanity Fair essay. Playmates marks her feature directorial debut. Rather than focusing only on Hefner’s lifestyle, the movie will tell its story through the eyes of a young girl growing up around the mansion. Nicholson uses that perspective to explore the unusual environment and the relationships that develop inside it.

Who else is starring in the Playboy movie with Jessica Biel?

Bill Pullman will play Hugh Hefner in Playmates. The role reunites Pullman with Biel, who previously worked together on the first season of USA Network’s The Sinner. Jessica starred in the crime drama and earned Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her performance, while Pullman played Detective Harry Ambrose.

Lily-Rose Depp will also star as Anna, a young woman who arrives at the mansion hoping to become a Playmate of the Month. Newcomer Indiana Elle plays 13-year-old Elle, a character loosely based on Nicholson’s own childhood. Elle has grown up treating the Playboy Mansion almost like a second home. The story follows the friendship between Elle and Anna as they navigate adolescence, ambition, and the pressures of life at the estate.

Playmates is a fictional story inspired by Nicholson’s personal experiences, rather than a direct biography of Hefner or his family. The project is being developed under Searchlight Pictures, with production moving forward following the studio’s acquisition of Nicholson’s screenplay.