Jessica Biel is making a smart strategic move in the wake of all the tabloid-driven rumors of her relationship trouble with Justin Timberlake. She want to go out and give interviews, but she doesn’t want to talk about her relationship. So what’s a girl to do? Start promoting her films four months ahead of schedule, beg for jobs on films that don’t want her, and try to look like a humanitarian.

Jessica gave an interview to MTV where I think she was trying to promote her supporting part in the ensemble film Valentine’s Day. Which doesn’t come out for another four months, so… why is she being interviewed again? Ah, yes. Because she wants to beg for a job on the Twilight franchise. It’s not like she was asked to join the cast or anything, she’s just putting it out there that she’d like to work on them. Jessica says: “Well, I’m clearly familiar with the films. I haven’t read the books, but I haven’t seen any of the films yet so I’m not that familiar — I know the idea of what it’s about. I mean, maybe [I’d be in the next ‘Twilight’ film]. That would be lovely. I am not opposed to playing a vampire.” Hey, does everyone remember how she was in Blade: Trinity? Yeah… her career has gone from that to publicly begging for a supporting role in Twilight. Step down? Or step up?

Jessica is also trying to look like a humanitarian, a good celebrity hellbent on changing the world, unconcerned with what people may say about her personal life. Jessica has given an interview in Parade to promote her participation with the Dow Live Earth Run for Water (DLERW… worst acronym ever). It takes place in April of next year, and consists of “a series of 6km runs/walks (the average distance many women and children walk every day to secure water) occurring over the course of 24 hours.” It sounds like a really great cause, but this interview isn’t that great. Jessica is not a very coherent spokeswoman for the cause:

Running for a global issue.
“The idea of really expanding the opportunity to raise awareness for this issue globally just seemed to make a lot of sense to me. Clearly, water is a major problem. Clearly, I feel passionate about it. But this particular event is amenable to everyone all over the world. Somewhere close to you, you can be a part of it. You can raise your own awareness and raise your friends’ awareness.”

Using her celebrity for something positive.
“It’s funny that this is an upside to fame because you don’t really feel sometimes like you deserve to be the face of something. It feels weird. But I think it is important to stand up for what you believe in and stand up for the world. I would never say that anyone should follow me or do what I’m doing, but this particular issue is so important because it affects the human race. So I would encourage anyone who has a voice to get behind something that makes sense for them.”

How she does her part.
“I’ve made little changes like turning off the water, taking shorter showers and being involved with causes like this. Talking to my family, talking to people in my life that aren’t as predisposed to thinking about these kinds of things or use the Internet, like my grandmother. And just really getting the word out there and really trying to live by that, even when it is so easy to go to the store and grab a bottle of water; I don’t do that anymore.”

Facing the toughest climb of her life: Mt. Kilimanjaro.
“It definitely is a scary challenge because you don’t know quite how your body will react at such high altitudes. But it’s fun, it’s exciting. I’m thrilled to go. It will be a mental challenge. I think it’s really going to be a wonderful experience to have climbed Kilimanjaro.”

Facing her (lack of) fears.
“I’m not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but I don’t really have a whole lot of fears. With different characters, you’re always exploring your vulnerability and insecurities. So I feel like I’m always tackling those kinds of things.”

Come on, there has to be something that scares you…
“OK, something I do have a fear of is swimming in the ocean–deep, deep in the ocean. I’ve never really done anything like that before and have kind of a fear of being way out there. Maybe someone will put on a swim one day and I’d love to face my fear, but I would be really terrified!”

[From Parade]

Raising awareness about global water issues is a huge deal, and it’s a cause other celebrities are involved with. My favorite is probably Matt Damon, who works with H2O Africa. The thing about Matt though is that he’s actually a really effective, educated advocate with a message beyond “um… talk to your family about, like, not showering so much or whatever.”