Jessica Alba reveals she fended off Hollywood 'predators' by putting on 'armor of masculine energy'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Jessica Alba recently revealed that she intentionally avoided numerous Hollywood 'predators' by adopting a more masculine image as a teenager and young adult in Hollywood. The actress, now 41, made her first screen appearance in the 1994 action comedy 'Camp Nowhere' when she was just 12.
Alba began acting at the age of 13, and at 19 she was cast to play Max Guevara in the Fox series Black Angel, which helped her break through. The series, produced by James Cameron, made Alba a sex icon and a feminist TV star of the early 2000s. Alba established herself in the beauty and sexuality by playing subsequent roles in films such as the dance romance 'Honey' (2003) and the action noir film 'Sin City - Recut, Extended, Unrated' (2005).
READ MORE
'I was a warrior. I put up that energy'
The 'Fantastic Four' star addressed Hollywood's early objectification of her as a sex symbol in an interview on a new installment of CNN's 'Who's Talking to Chris Wallace?' show. "I understood that I needed to help sell the product, and they sell it how they do. So I understood it as a business decision and as a strategy," Alba said, reports Variety.
"And so I was able to distance myself from it. But I guess, you know, you can’t change other people’s minds about what they may or may not think of you. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with owning your sexuality. I just frankly was definitely not that person. I was very nervous about all of that, and I was quite uncomfortable in my own skin," Alba explained.
She admitted, "It wasn’t until I became a mom that I really started to even see myself as a woman or a sexual being or someone who owned her power and her femininity." "At that time, I felt like I was very much having to put up this armor of masculinity and masculine energy so I wouldn’t, you know, be preyed on because there were a lot of predators in Hollywood from age 12 to 26," Alba continued.
Along with her husband, the film producer Cash Warren, Alba has three kids: Honor, 14, Haven, 11, and Hayes, 5. According to Alba, exuding a rougher, more masculine vibe helped deter predators from Hollywood. She called herself a "warrior" and claimed to "curse like a sailor," adding, "I think I tried to make myself as unavailable as possible so that I wouldn’t be taken advantage of."
Jessica Alba's career as actress and entrepreneur
The daughter of a father who served in the Air Force and a well-rounded mother, Alba's childhood began humbly in California. Her first film appearance was in 'Camp Nowhere' in 1994. Her breakthrough came when James Cameron hired her to star in the television series 'Dark Angel', for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. Although she was often called the "hottest," "sexiest" or "most beautiful" woman in the world by men's magazines, the actress rebelled against her overly sexualized portrayal, according to Savoir Flair.
With $100 million in investment in 2014, Alba's 'The Honest Company' became a true "unicorn," which means it reached a billion-dollar valuation in less than five years. As far as start-ups go, it has astounded even the harshest critic. Alba seems remarkably at ease in her position as a business magnate as the CEO of a $1 billion company. 'The Honest Company' went public in early May 2021 and raised $413 million with its IPO, following its much-awaited stock market listing.