1992–1999: Beginnings Alba expressed an interest in acting from age five. In 1992, the eleven-year-old Alba persuaded her mother to take her to an acting competition in
Beverly Hills, where the grand prize was free acting classes. She won the grand prize and took her first acting lessons. An agent signed her nine months later. Her first film appearance was a small role in the 1994 feature
Camp Nowhere as Gail. She was originally hired for two weeks, but her role turned into a two-month job when one of the prominent actresses dropped out. She then performed the role of Maya in the first two seasons of the 1995 television series
Flipper. In 1998, she appeared as Melissa Hauer in a first-season episode of the
Steven Bochco crime drama
Brooklyn South, as Leanne in two episodes of
Beverly Hills, 90210, and as Layla in an episode of
Love Boat: The Next Wave. In 1999, she appeared in the
Randy Quaid comedy feature
P.U.N.K.S.. After Alba graduated from high school, she studied acting with
William H. Macy and his wife,
Felicity Huffman, at the
Atlantic Theater Company, which was developed by Macy and
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and film director,
David Mamet. Alba rose to greater prominence in
Hollywood in 1999 after appearing as a member of a snobby high school clique tormenting an insecure copy editor in the romantic comedy
Never Been Kissed, opposite
Drew Barrymore, and as the female lead in the little seen comedy horror film
Idle Hands, alongside
Devon Sawa. The series ran for two seasons, until 2002, and earned Alba critical acclaim, a
Golden Globe nomination, the
Teen Choice Award for Choice Actress, and a
Saturn Award for Best Actress. Her role has been cited as a
feminist character and is considered a symbol of
female empowerment. Writing for the
University of Melbourne, Bronwen Auty considered Max "the archetypal modern feminist hero—a young woman empowered to use her body actively to achieve goals", citing Max's refusal to use firearms and instead using martial arts and knowledge as weapons. In 2004, Max was ranked #17 in
TV Guides list of "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends". Her
Dark Angel role led to significant parts in films. She had her big screen breakthrough in 2003 when she starred as an aspiring dancer-choreographer in
Honey.
Rotten Tomatoes' critical consensus was: "An attractive Jessica Alba and energetic dance numbers provide some lift to this corny and formulaic movie". Budgeted at US$18 million, the film made US$62.2 million. Alba next played
exotic dancer Nancy Callahan, as part of a long
ensemble cast, in the
neo-noir crime anthology film Sin City (2005), written, produced, and directed by
Robert Rodriguez and
Frank Miller. It is based on Miller's
graphic novel of the same name. She had not heard about the novel before her involvement with the film, but was eager to work with Rodriguez. The film was a critical darling and grossed US$158.8 million. She received a
MTV Movie Award for Sexiest Performance. Alba portrayed the
Marvel Comics character
Invisible Woman in
Fantastic Four (also 2005), alongside
Ioan Gruffudd,
Chris Evans,
Michael Chiklis, and
Julian McMahon.
The Guardian, in its review for the film, noted: "Feminists and non-feminists alike must absorb the
Fantastic Four's most troubling paradox: having been admitted to the story on the grounds of her beauty, [Alba's] superpower is to be invisible". The film was a commercial success despite negative reviews, grossing US$333.5 million worldwide. At the
2006 MTV Movie Awards, Alba earned nominations for Best Hero and Best On-Screen Team. Her last 2005 film was the thriller
Into the Blue, where she portrayed, opposite
Paul Walker, one half of a couple who find themselves in trouble with a drug lord after finding the illicit cargo of a sunken airplane. The film saw moderate box office returns, with a US$44.4 million worldwide gross. She hosted the
2006 MTV Movie Awards and performed sketches spoofing the movies
King Kong,
Mission: Impossible III and
The Da Vinci Code.
2007–2010: Romantic comedies Alba reprised her role in
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, released in June 2007. According to Alba,
Tim Story's direction during an emotional scene almost made her quit acting. "[He told me] 'It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica.' He was like, 'Don't do that thing with your face. Just make it flat. We can CGI the tears in." According to Alba, this experience filled her with self-doubt: "And then it all got me thinking: Am I not good enough? Are my instincts and my emotions not good enough? Do people hate them so much that they don't want me to be a person? Am I not allowed to be a person in my work? And so I just said, 'Fuck it. I don't care about this business anymore.'" The film grossed globally. In
Good Luck Chuck (also 2007), Alba portrayed the love interest of a womanizer dentist. She posed for one of the
Good Luck Chucks theatrical posters parodying the well-known
Rolling Stone cover photographed by
Annie Leibovitz featuring
John Lennon and
Yoko Ono in similar poses. While the film was heavily panned by critics, it made almost US$60 million upon its release. Her third starring vehicle in 2007 was the psychological thriller
Awake, portraying the girlfriend of a wealthy man who is about to have a heart transplant. Reviews were lukewarm, but
Roger Ebert praised her performance, and budgeted at around US$8 million, the film made US$32.7 million. In February 2008, she hosted the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences'
Science and Technical Awards. Alba made her acting transition to the horror genre in the film
The Eye, a remake of the Hong Kong original, in which she obtained the role of a successful classical violinist who receives an eye transplant that allows her to see into the supernatural world. her performance itself received mixed reviews. She garnered a
Teen Choice for Choice Movie Actress: Horror–Thriller and a
Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actress (shared with
The Love Guru). In 2008, she also played a salesgirl in the independent romantic comedy
Meet Bill, alongside
Logan Lerman and
Elizabeth Banks, and starred in the comedy
The Love Guru, as a woman who inherits the
Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team, opposite
Mike Myers and
Justin Timberlake.
Mick LaSalle, of the
San Francisco Chronicle, noting that she was "prominently" in the film, felt that she "finally seems relaxed on camera".
The Love Guru was a critical and commercial flop. While Alba did not have any film releases in 2009, five high-profile films released throughout 2010 featured her in significant roles. Her first role in the year was that of a prostitute in
The Killer Inside Me, an adaptation of the book of the same name, opposite
Kate Hudson and
Casey Affleck, which premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival to polarized reactions from critics. Her next film was the romantic comedy ''
Valentine's Day, in which she played the girlfriend of a florist as part of a long ensemble cast consisting of Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper, Taylor Lautner and Julia Roberts, among others. Despite negative reviews, the film was a commercial success, with a worldwide gross of US$216.5 million. In the action film Machete, Alba reunited with director Robert Rodriguez, taking on the role of an immigration officer torn between enforcing the law and doing what is popular in the eyes of her family. Machete'' made over US$44 million globally. The drama
An Invisible Sign of My Own, which Alba filmed in late 2008, premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival. In it, she portrayed a painfully withdrawn young woman. Her last 2010 film was the comedy
Little Fockers, in which she played an extrovert drug representative, reuniting with
Robert De Niro, who was also in
Machete. Despite negative reviews from critics, the film grossed over US$310 million worldwide. For all her 2010 roles, she received a
Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress.
2011–present: action and independent media productions In 2011, Alba worked for the third time with Robert Rodriguez in the film
Spy Kids: All the Time in the World, portraying a retired spy who is called back into action. To bond with her new stepchildren, she invites them along. The film paled at the box office in comparison to the previous films in the franchise, but was still a moderate success, taking in US$85 million around the globe. Alba next appeared with
Adam Scott,
Richard Jenkins,
Jane Lynch,
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and
Catherine O'Hara in the comedy
A.C.O.D. (2013), portraying what the
Washington Post described as a "fellow child of divorce", with whom Scott's character "almost cheats on" her girlfriend.
ScreenRant critic Ben Kendrick wrote: "[Winstead] and [Alba] also deliver in their contributions – though both of their characters are mainly designed to be mirrors for Carter to examine his own life and choices."
A.C.O.D. received a limited theatrical run in North America. In 2013, Alba also made her voice acting debut in the moderately successful animated film
Escape from Planet Earth. Alba worked once again with director Rodriguez for two film sequels. She reprised her role of an Immigration Officer, in an uncredited cameo appearance, in
Machete Kills (2013), which flopped with critics and audiences, and her much larger role of stripper Nancy Callahan, seeking to avenge her late protector, in
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which was released in August 2014, on 2D and 3D. Unlike the first film,
A Dame to Kill For was a commercial failure, grossing US$39 million against its US$65 million production budget, and received mixed reviews from film critics.
Variety felt it was a "late, limp attempt to turn Alba's character from an exploited figure into an empowered one". She next took on the roles of a cabaret show performer in the dramedy
Dear Eleanor (2014), the athletic girlfriend of a successful and well-respected English professor in the romantic comedy
Some Kind of Beautiful (2014), a receptionist at a limo company in the thriller
Stretch (also 2014), an emotionally vulnerable weapons trafficker in the crime comedy
Barely Lethal (2015), and that of a documentary filmmaker in the horror film
The Veil (2016); all films were released for limited theatrical runs and VOD. In the action film
Mechanic: Resurrection (2016), alongside
Jason Statham, Alba played the girlfriend of a retired hitman. She did
Krav Maga to get into shape for the film, and was drawn to the strength her character exhibited, remarking: "I think for these types of movies you don't often get to see the female romantic lead kind of kick butt. I mean, it's usually she's being saved by the guy, and so it's nice that I got to come to the table with a toughness, and a real heart". The film made US$125.7 million worldwide. In 2020, it was announced that Alba would star in and executive produce a new documentary series for
Disney+ called
Parenting Without Borders (working title), which would focus on families around the world and their beliefs and culture, it was never released. == Other endeavors ==