Jessica Alba, born to Catherine Louisa (née Jensen) and Mark David Alba is a well-known actress known for her appearances in big Hollywood movies. Such as the controversial Fantastic Four (as the ‘Invisible Woman’, Sue Storm) that has split the nation into fanatics and haters, and the cult-classics Machete (as Sartana), Spy Kids, and Sin City (as Nancy!).
You might also recognize her from some of her earlier television and movie appearances — which she began at the young age of 13. Although the show that really shot her up into the ranks of Hollywood’s elite was the TV Series called Dark Angel, which had run for two years in the early 2000s and had earned her her first nomination at the Golden Globe Awards (at 19 years old!)
Since 2011, however, Jessica Alba decided to turn her attention to the business world instead. In that year, she had co-founded the American consumer goods company, called The Honest Company.
According to Jessica Alba, plans for The Honest Company had started as early as 2008, when she had given birth to her first child, Honor. She had worried incessantly about raising her own child after remembering the bouts of illnesses that she had faced in the past because of harmful ingredients in baby products.
After finding the right business partners, a challenge that took three years, Alba launched The Honest Company as a subscription-based service that delivered a limited amount of baby products directly, and in the quantity that it was needed. At that time, the company’s products had been mainly diapers and baby wipes — the bare minimum! But now, said the company has grown to offer more than 100 products. And, as of 2020, the annual gross revenue of it has gone up to just over $300 million!
The Movies and Shows Jessica Alba Starred In!
Let’s preface this with a forewarning that this will not be a compilation of all the movies and shows Jessica Alba starred in. But rather a discussion on some of her more notable recurring roles in television and the movies that earned her her big break in the Hollywood industry as well as scored highly in the box office!
Jessica Alba as Max Guevera in the TV Series The Dark Angel!
Let’s start strong with the TV Series, “Dark Angel”!
Jessica Alba starred in Dark Angel (a television series that released its pilot in 2000 and lasted for two seasons) as the character Max Guevera. A genetically engineered human being escaped a government facility and, at the start of the series, was facing the challenge of inserting herself into a dystopian society way behind on the times. Jessica Alba had only been 19 years old when she earned this leading role! And, in an interview with CloserWeekly that was left unpublished until 2019, she had this to say about her experience:
“Oh, it was a lot tougher than I anticipated. But it’s worth it because I am doing what I love. I’m really lucky. It’s hard work and you don’t realize you can do it until you do it.” – Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba’s Other Early TV Series Roles!
On the subject of TV series roles, you might also recognize Jessica Alba from her recurring role in “The Secret World of Alex Mack” — Alex Mack was a TV series from the mid-1990s. And her more even more regular appearances in the TV Series “Flipper” (for her role of Maya Graham) which ran from 1995-1997!
According to Alba, she’s grateful for these earlier roles, even if they hadn’t actually prepared her for the rigors of the roles she had coming for her in the future:
“I was just learning what you need to learn about technical stuff, like getting on your mark and learning your lines and trying to stay positive and acknowledging that you’re lucky to be here. Because you could be sitting at home or waiting tables and wondering if you’re even going to get an audition.”
Jessica Alba’s Early Films | 1990s!
And boy did she have a lot ahead of her! Jessica Alba had actually had her first film debut all the way back in 1994 as the character Gail from Camp Nowhere. But after her appearance in the TV series Dark Angel as Max Guevera, her services as an actress only grew to be in higher demand.
One of her first appearances in films post-Dark Angel was as the character, Selima in the British-American film, The Sleeping Dictionary. In an interview with Jessica Alba on the Arena Magazine, however, the actress herself said that she disliked this role. As she hadn’t been treated well on set or by her co-stars in general.
Jessica Alba’s Work with Director Robert Rodriguez
The role did bring her closer to the big screen, however, as it no doubt helped her next following roles. Including her role as Nancy in Sin City, and its sequel Sin City: A Dame to Live For — both with director Robert Rodriguez, who she’ll continue to work with for several other films in the future. Testament to this comment of hers with another interview, this time with Radio Free Entertainment, where she said:
“I wanted to do this movie because Robert Rodriguez was directing it, first and foremost. I didn’t really know it was a comic book when I saw that he was directing something. I just tell my agents every month, “What’s Robert doing? I want to do something with him.” And one of my agents has a relationship with Robert and said, “You got an opportunity.” And I was like, “Excellent!” So I took that opportunity and ran with it.” – Jessica Alba
And, true to form, Jessica Alba does end up collaborating with Director Robert Rodriguez in a couple of other works. Including the cult classic, Machete & Machete Kills (as Special Agent Sartana Rivera), as well as Spy Kids (Marissa Wilson). These roles set her up for future appearances in big-screen action movies, which Jessica Alba herself has said that she had a particularly soft spot for in an interview with a Hollywood reporter from Collider — where, after being asked about whether she liked romantic comedy or action better, she said:
“I love doing both. I have always had a soft spot for action. I basically started my adult career doing a TV Series (Dark Angel) that Jim Cameron produced. He’s another one that knows how to write strong women. That’s where I started, so I always love that, but romantic comedy is why I started acting, in the first place. I love both.”
Jessica Alba’s Most Memorable Films | 2000s!
It is undeniable, though, that while Dark Angel (TV Series), Sin City, and her other films with Robert Rodriguez had definitely (undeniably) pushed Jessica Alba forward in the action films genre, the actress is most notable for more recent films. And that includes Fantastic 4 and its sequel, Rise of the Silver Surfer — where her character, Sue Storm (or ‘Invisible Woman’) had been one of the lead stars.
The film itself is a highly contested one, having received a lot of criticism, and, once more, it was an experience that Jessica herself didn’t like, having described it as “…an overinflated B-movie with no grace, no subtext, no wit, and featuring beefcake/cheesecake actors” in an older interview. But, infamous or not, it’s definitely a role that caught the attention of the general public!
Her role as Liz Anne Blazer from the film, The Ten is also quite well-known, showing off her original routes in the Comedy genre! Other roles from this era that you might be familiar with include Jessica Alba starring Cam Wexler in Good Luck Chuck or Joyce Lakeland for The Killer Inside Me.
Jessica Alba’s Latest Works | LA’s (Los Angeles) Finest!
If you’re looking to learn more about Jessica Alba’s more recent acting roles, the one to check out would be Los Angeles’ finest, which is a TV series that serves as a spin-off from the Bad Boys franchise. The show has Jessica Alba as one of its lead stars, playing Nancy McKenna. With this role, as Nancy Mckenna, she pulled from her long history in both comedy and action — and she kept the role for the two seasons that it ran on Fox!
The Hollywood Reported interviewed Jessica Alba and her co-star, fellow actress, Gabrielle Union while she was working on this role, during which she said:
“It felt really modern to tell the story of this friendship and partnership between these two women (Nancy Mckenna and Lieutenant Sydney) and to not have to call out that we were women all the time. We’re just people.”
Jessica Alba | A Short Biography!
Early History | Daughter of Mark David Alba & Catherine Louisa
Jessica Marie Alba, as she was born as on April 28, 1981, in Pomona California. She inherited Danish, Welsh, German, English, and French ancestry from her mother, while her father, who was born in California, was the son of immigrants from Mexico. Because of her father having been a member of the Air Force, the young actress had ended up moving on more than one occasion.
She grew up in a conservative family, Alba has mentioned in more than one interview. And, because of her history with physical illnesses and maladies as a child (which at one point resulted in her suffering from pneumonia four to five times a year), she had grown up even more isolated from other children.
Recent History | Creating a Family
After a couple of hit-and-miss relationships over the years, Jessica Alba finally met her future husband, Cash Warren, in 2004 (while filming Fantastic 4).
They ended up getting married in Los Angeles in May 2008. And now, they have two lovely older daughters: Honor Marie (born in 2008), Haven Garner (born in 2011). And their youngest son, Hayes (born in 2017).
The Entrepreneur | Jessica Alba & The Honest Company
As mentioned in the introduction, Jessica Alba launched The Honest Company sometime between 2011-2012, three years after her first daughter had been born, and soon after baby Haven Garner was born!
Soon after it was launched with a collection of safe, non-toxic collection of household goods and baby care products, The Honest Company has seen much success. It was valued at about one billion US dollars in 2014 and has only continued to grow since then. In an interview with Allure, when asked about what she learned from this first venture, this is what Alba had to say,
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes. But I would say the one thing if I can…Just make sure that everyone on your team is moving in the same direction and that you’re surrounding yourself with people that are aligned with your vision. It was a hard lesson for me and I feel like I had to learn it a few times.”
After the success of The Honest Company, it should also be noted that Jessica Alba has since launched a new venture in 2015. This time, by the name of Honest Beauty, which offers a collection of carefully curated skincare and beauty products. In another talk with Allure, this is what she had to say about the success that came from these ventures:
“For me, success is quality of life. I think being able to look up at the end of the day and just feel like today was a good day. Not every day is going to be great. But you know what, you did your best and your heart’s in the right place. And for me, I can go to sleep every night feeling like all of us, we did our best. We all are trying to do the right thing. And we’re all trying to really drive the mission of the company. And that to me is really what success is about.”
Frequently Asked Questions | Jessica Alba
Now onto answering some of the more frequently asked questions about Jessica Alba on the internet!
Q: What is Jessica Alba’s Net Worth?
According to recent reports, Jessica Alba’s worth is estimated at 350 million dollars as of 2020.
Q: How much stock does Jessica Alba own?
Reports have Jessica Alba owning around 5.65 million shares of Honest company. This is just under 5% of the company (a lot lower than it had been a few years back, where she had owned under a third of it, valuing around 30%).
Q: Is Honest Beauty Company in the USA?
Honest Company is a US-based company. However, according to the brand representative, they don’t restrict their manufacturers based on location. For example, they have their baby diapers made in Mexico, where they partnered up with a manufacturer that they claim is ‘best-in-class’.
Q: How is Jessica Alba so rich?
As you can probably guess, a lot of Jessica’s net worth comes from her work as a businesswoman.
Q: Is Jessica Alba still married to Cash Warren?
Alba has been married to Cash Warren since 2008 (quickly followed by the birth of her first daughter, Honor) and they have continued to be happily married since.
Q: Is Jessica Alba vegan?
According to an interview she did with Women’s Health, she is not! However, four out of seven days of the week, she does try to restrict her diet to plant-based only.
Q: How old is Jessica Alba?
Having been born in 1981, Jessica is 40 years old as of 2021!
Q: How many kids did Jessica Alba give birth to?
Alba has had three kids. Her eldest daughter, Honor, her youngest daughter, Haven. And, finally, her baby boy, Hayes (the youngest!)
Q: Does Jessica Alba have any siblings?
Yes, she has a brother named Joshua Alba! Joshua, if you haven’t heard of him, is an actor in his own right — he even starred in Dark Angel along with his sister!
Q: Is Jessica Alba a billionaire?
Forbes has featured her in the past for being one of the richest self-made women in America! And, at one point, her business was valued at around 1 billion dollars (when she still owned a fourth of its shares).
Jessica Alba | Famous Quotes!
- “Being perfect is being flawed, accepting it, and never letting it make you feel less than your best.”
- “You have to be brutally honest with yourself and understand your strengths and weaknesses.”
- “It’s hard for people to take anyone seriously who’s never done this before. But that just gave me the fire to move forward.”
- “I never just did what people told me. I questioned everything. When I look back, it is really no surprise that I started working at 12.”
- “My theory is that if you look confident, you can pull off anything–even if you have no clue what you’re doing.”
