About Me
Born in Pomona, California, on April 28, 1981, Jessica Alba and her family moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, when she was an infant. Three years later her Air Force father brought the family back to California, then to Del Rio, Texas, before finally settling in Southern California when Jessica was nine. In love with the idea of becoming an actress from the age of five, she was 12 before she took her first acting class. Nine months later she was signed by an agent. A gifted young actress, Jessica has already played a variety of roles ranging from light comedy to gritty drama since beginning her career. She made her feature film debut in 1993 in Hollywood Pictures' comedy Camp Nowhere (1994). Originally hired for two weeks, she got her break when an actress in a principal role suddenly dropped out. Jessica cheerfully admits it wasn't her prodigious talent or charm that inspired the director to tap her to take over the part -- it was her hair, which matched the original performer's. The two-week job stretched to two months, and Jessica ended the film with an impressive first credit. Two national TV commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penney quickly followed before Jessica was featured in several independent films. She branched out into TV in 1994 with a recurring role in Nickelodeon's popular comedy series "The Secret World of Alex Mack" (1994). She played an insufferable young snob, devoted to making life miserable for the the title character, played by Larisa Oleynik. That same year she won the role of Maya in "Flipper" (1995) and filmed the pilot for the series. She spent 1995 shooting the first season's episodes in Australia. An avid swimmer and PADI-certified scuba diver, Jessica was delighted to be doing a show that allowed her to play with dolphins. The show's success guaranteed it a second season, which she also starred in. Her involvement in the show lasted from 1995 to 1997. Since the show ended she has appeared in a number of TV shows and films. In 1996 she appeared in Venus Rising (1995) as Young Eve. The next year she appeared on the "The Dini Petty Show" (1989), a Canadian talk show, and spoke about her role in "Flipper" and her general acting career. She began working on P.U.N.K.S. (1999), featuring Randy Quaid, in 1998. In early 1998 she appeared in "Brooklyn South" (1997) as Melissa. That same year she was in two episodes of "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) as Leanne and in two episodes of "The Love Boat: The Next Wave" (1998). She appeared in "Teen Magazine" in 1995 and various European magazines in the following several years. More importantly, she was featured in the February 1999 issue of "Vanity Fair" magazine. She also had major roles in two movies that year: Never Been Kissed (1999) and Idle Hands (1999). In 2000 she had roles in Paranoid (2000/I) and starred in the sci-fi TV series "Dark Angel" (2000).Sister of actor Joshua Alba Was ..1 on Maxim's Hot 100 Babe List. [2001] Her father is Mexican, her mother is of French and Danish descent. Loves to play golf. Graduated high school at age 16. Has a tatoo of a daisy with a ladybug on it on the back of her neck. Her second cousin is skateboarding legend Steve "Salba" Alba.Broke off her long engagement to co-star Michael Weatherly ("Dark Angel" (2000)) in 2003 but has reconciled recently.She co-starred in one episode of "Dark Angel" (2000) with her brother, Joshua Alba, titled "...And Jesus Brought a Casserole." He played, Krit, one of her X-5 brothers who wanted to help destroy Manticore in the Season 1 finale.Named one of "50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine. [2005] Had asthma as a child. She wanted to become an actress at the age of five. Became anorexic the same year she had a kidney infection (2001).Has two pug dogs, named Nancy and Sid. Despite her Mexican ancestry, she isn't fluent in Spanish. She hardly understands anything in that language.Loves to cook. Her specialty is chicken enchiladas and homemade tortillas. Loves Harley Davidson motorcycles. The bra that she wore in "Sin City" drew a winning bid of $1,025 in an eBay auction."I'm really good at being sarcastic with guys. That's the best way to hang out with them, because that's what guys like. They don't want the quiet, prissy little things.""I like Spongebob Squarepants. He's goofy, like me." "My father is Mexican and very dark; my mother is very fair. I used to always get [script] breakdowns for things like Maria, the janitor's daughter who hangs around with white kids. I was born in the United States. I never thought about it until the industry made me think about being a Latin girl. It seemed like such a bizarre thing." (commenting on racial stereotyping)."My grandfather was the only Mexican at his college, the only Hispanic person at work and the only one at the all-white country club. He tried to forget his Mexican roots, because he never wanted his kids to be made to feel different in America. He and my grandmother didn't speak Spanish to their children. Now, as a third-generation American, I feel as if I have finally cut loose.""I love listening to Coldplay. But sometimes I listen to it too much and it depresses me. I call it a 'reflective' mood." The most important thing I have learned in life was that being a teenager wasn't forever. I had a hard time being a teenager." I don't hang out with the Hollywood cool people. I'm not out trying to make friends with people because they're famous.""I have my own spiritual thing, but am not part of an organized religion. I think religion is very special and individual to each person."Living in L.A., everyone likes to mold you and change you. I don't care about fame, I don't care about being a celebrity. I know that's part of the job, but I don't feed into anyone's idea of who I should be."'I used to come to Beverly Hills for auditions as a kid and think, "Why don't I live here? Why don't I drive that car?"'On growing up in L.A.: 'I never really belonged anywhere. I wasn't white. I was shunned by the Latin community for not being Latin enough. My grandfather was the only one in our family to go to college. He made a choice not to speak Spanish in the house. He didn't want his kids to be different.'"My whole life, when I was growing up, not one race has ever accepted me. So I never felt connected or attached to any race specifically. I did grow up in a Mexican-American culture, but my mom [who's of French and Danish heritage] was there the whole time. I mean, I had a very American upbringing, I feel American, and I don't speak Spanish. So, to say that I'm a Latin actress, OK, but it's not fitting; it would be insincere. If you're going to look genetically, I'm actually less Latin than Cameron Diaz, whose father is from Cuba. But she's not getting called a Latin actress because she's got blond hair and blue eyes.""My first kiss was when I was 7, and it was scandalous because he was 10! I only did it so he would pick me on our neighborhood baseball team. And at the time, I thought it was great, but then it sucked because he didn't even pick me!"
