Jessica Alba: Sittin’ on Top of the World

To say that there are a few beautiful women in Hollywood would be a gross understatement.  Let’s face it: looks play a much larger role in creating a modern celebrity than talent and there is no shortage of attractive young women in Hollywood.  Magazines like Maxim and FHM exist to venerate these fresh faced beauties and there is a harsh reality to all of this – if a starlet loses their looks, there are thousands of girls who are ready to take their place.

Still, despite the commonality of beautiful women in Hollywood, occasionally there are stars that emerge that manage to shine within this spotlight of sultriness.  One recent example of this is the case of one, Jessica Marie Alba.  Although Jessica Alba has been in the public eye for years, her career is still on the rise.  While many people are unsure of whether or not Jessica Alba is able to act, as she has yet to obtain particularly meaty roles, everybody can agree that Jessica Alba is extraordinarily beautiful.  Maxim recently named her the second hottest women of 2006 (behind Jessica Biel, in a controversial choice) and Internet users routinely scour the web for Jessica Alba pics.  With her beautiful complexion, sweet smile, and her astounding figure, it’s easy to see why people fall in love with Jessica Alba.

However, one of the more distinguishing aspects of Jessica Alba’s appeal is the fact that she seems so down to earth.  Although many of her contemporaries in young Hollywood are notorious for their partying ways and are more concerned about staying famous than with producing good work, Jessica Alba has developed a reputation as one of Hollywood’s hardest working young actresses.  While it is true that Jessica Alba is probably more famous for being beautiful and famous than for any acting role that she has done, she has been relentless in trying to change this.

Additionally, while Jessica Alba may be extremely successful and beautiful now, there was a time when she was a complete underdog.  Much like the classic childhood fable of the ugly duckling that grew up to become a beautiful swan, Jessica Alba has emerged from a harsh childhood to capture the hearts and minds of people throughout the world.

Jessica Marie Alba was born on April 28, 1981 to Mark Alba and Cathy Jensen.  With her father’s Mexican heritage and her mother’s Danish and French-Canadian heritage, Jessica Alba was born with the mixed race look that would become a standard of beauty.  However, Alba’s childhood was marred with illness and constant moving around.  Raised in a military family that dates back to her maternal grandmother’s days as an Assistant Drum Major in the United States Marine Band during World War Two, Jessica Alba’s family quickly moved from Ponoma, California where she was born before moving to Biloxi, Mississippi and Del Rio, Texas.

During this time, Jessica Alba suffered through a number of medical maladies.  She suffered through pneumonia four to five times a year and was also asthmatic.  In addition to this, Jessica Alba had a collapsed lung twice, a burst appendix, a cyst on her tonsils, and also had the ordeal of obsessive compulsive disorder.  Due to her frequent visits to the hospital, Jessica Alba has acknowledged that she had few friends in school because she was never around at school long enough for others to get to know her.

However, once her family resettled in California, Alba’s health drastically improved.  Perhaps due to her frequent visits to the hospital and the isolation she felt because of her constant sickness, Jessica Alba was attracted to acting at an early age.  She made her ambitions known to her family at the tender age of five and would take her first acting class by the time she was twelve.  Showing the precociousness and resiliency that she now displays with her career, Jessica Alba was signed to an acting agent by the time she was thirteen.

As a child actor, Jessica Alba obtained a number of acting roles that would help her pad her resume.  In 1994, she made her first movie appearance with a small role in “Camp Nowhere.”  However, she would come to national attention with her appearance in commercials for Nintendo and JC Penny.  This would allow her to obtain a three episode recurring role as the snobbish Jessica in the Nickelodean show The Secret World of Alex Mack.  With this television exposure and the scuba diving skills that her lifeguard mother taught her at an early age, Jessica Alba was able to obtain a recurring role of Maya in the first two seasons of the TV show, Flipper.

One of the biggest challenges of a child actor is to gain more appropriate roles as you get older.  As Jessica Alba was exiting her teenage years, she began to have more meaty roles.  She made guest appearances on Beverly Hills 90210 and was in P.U.N.K.S., a Randy Quaid comedy.  Sensing the extra work that she would have to put in to compete with other aspiring actresses for adult roles, Jessica Alba would study acting at the respected Atlantic Theater Company after she graduated from high school.  The Atlantic Theater Company is a respected acting school that was developed by respected character actor William H. Macy, his “Desperate Housewives” wife, Felicity Huffman, and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, David Mamet.  Teaching an acting technique that emphasizes straight talking, the Atlantic Theater Company has produced such respected actors and actresses as Matthew Fox, Kristen Johnston, Camryn Manheim, and Skeet Ulrich.

With the extra confidence that comes with learning your craft from professionals, Jessica Alba made her first significant impression on Hollywood in 1999.  That was the year that she co-starred in the Drew Barrymore romantic comedy, “Never Been Kissed.”  From there, Alba landed her first starring role in the comedy-horror movie Idle Hands.  However, it was in 2000 that Jessica Alba would reintroduce herself to the nation as a feisty woman by landing the starring role in Hollywood legend James Cameron’s cutting edge sci-fi TV series, “Dark Angel.”  Beating out 1,200 other candidates, Alba gained praise for her portrayal of the sarcastic Max Guevara who also happened to be a genetically engineered super soldier.  The show was a critical success and it featured much of the Best of Jessica Alba in terms of acting.  Although the show attracted a lot of ratings in its first season, the show would be cancelled after two seasons.  While this would be considered a blow for most actresses, the public was captivated by the beautiful looks of Jessica Alba.

From there, Jessica Alba has strictly focused on making movies.  Her first notable starring role following the end of Dark Angel’s run was as an aspiring dancer/choreographer in the movie “Honey.”  Featuring a hotbed of hip hop dancers and a cameo of Missy Elliott, the movie didn’t resonate greatly with most of the public.  However, it did succeed in extending Alba’s grip over teenagers throughout the world.  Jessica Alba would be frequently profiled by popular men’s magazines like FHM and Maxim where she would routinely reside among the top in lists compiling the most attractive celebrities.

After a short sabbatical from the movies, Jessica Alba has roared back on the big screen by appearing in a number of successful and high profile movies.  One of her more noted roles was playing an exotic dancer in Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s ensemble adult comic book movie, “Sin City.”  Within this time, Jessica Alba would also star in her first big budget movie as Sue Storm in the movie rendition of Fantastic Four.  Considering how popular other Marvel Comics based movies like Spiderman and X-Men have been, this was a huge break for Jessica Alba’s career.  Although the movie was considered a lesser movie within the respected Marvel Comics movie universe, a sequel has been shot for The Fantastic Four that will be released within the next few years.

Another popular movie that Jessica Alba has recently appeared in was the surf crime thriller, “Into the Blue.”  Considering that Jessica Alba spent the majority of the movie in a tiny bikini, “Into the Blue” has been a huge success in the young male demographic.  However, Alba’s sexiness would soon be a source of controversy, as Playboy Magazine would use a promotional photo from the movie for a magazine cover.  Naming Jessica Alba among its 25 sexiest celebrities, the jessica alba playboy cover would upset Alba.  Feeling that being on the cover of Playboy unfairly suggested that she would appear nude in a photo spread within the pages, Jessica Alba sued the venerable institution for using her image without her consent.  However, after Hugh Hefner’s public apology and agreement to donate money to two charities that Alba supported, Jessica Alba quickly dropped her lawsuit.

With her fame at an all time high, Jessica Alba was honored with the offer to host the MTV Movie Awards in 2006.  Considering that MTV usually offers these prime hosting spots to up and coming stars, it was no surprise that Jessica Alba accepted.  Showcasing her comedic chops in spoofs of such popular movies as King Kong and The Da Vinci Code, Jessica Alba proved to the world that she was more than a pretty face.

However, oddly enough Jessica Alba’s rampant sex appeal is one of the things that she feels is holding back her career.  Although many audience members dream of the day of a jessica alba nude appearance on the big screens, it is unlikely to happen.  Raised in a conservative household where she was not allowed to wear a bikini around the household, Jessica Alba has firmly stated that she would not appear naked in a movie.  Still, many movie directors try to chip at Alba’s resolve by offering her roles that typecast her as a sex kitten.  With such narrow choices for movie roles, Jessica Alba has stated on numerous occasions her frustration with how Hollywood has seen her.

Still, considering how much success Jessica Alba has achieved in her relatively short career, you can imagine that she will find a way to break out of her typecasting.  While Jessica Alba pics are frequently searched for on the Internet, Alba is working hard to show that she should be praised for another thing – her acting ability.  She is currently working on a Hollywood remake of the popular Asian horror series, The Eye, in which she will play a blind violinist.  Stating in interviews, her dedication to properly learn the violin for this role, it isn’t hard to imagine a day where Jessica Alba will be viewed as a respected actress.  Despite this focus on obtaining critical acclaim, there will always be demand for seeing Jessica Alba in a thong in her movies.  Perhaps, Alba will be able to follow the career paths of other respected actresses that have managed a balance between acute sexiness and serious acting.