Jessica Marie Alba (born April 28, 1981) is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere andThe Secret World of Alex Mack (1994). Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel (2000–2002). Alba later appeared in various films including Honey (2003), Sin City (2005), Fantastic Four (2005), Into the Blue (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Good Luck Chuck both in 2007.
Alba is considered a sex symbol. She appears on the "Hot 100" section of Maxim and was voted number one on AskMen.com's list of "99 Most Desirable Women" in 2006, as well as "Sexiest Woman in the World" by FHM in 2007. The use of her image on the cover of the March 2006 Playboy sparked a lawsuit by her, which was later dropped. She has also won various awards for her acting, including the Choice Actress Teen Choice Award and Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television, and a Golden Globe nomination for her lead role in the television series Dark Angel.
JESSICA ALBA’S PERSONAL LIFE
Religion
Alba was raised as a Catholic throughout her teenage years, but left the church after four years because she felt she was being judged for her appearance, explaining: "Older men would hit on me, and my youth pastor said it was because I was wearing provocative clothing, when I wasn't. It just made me feel like if I was in any way desirable to the opposite sex that it was my fault, and it made me ashamed of my body and being a woman".
Alba also had objections to the church's condemnations of premarital sex and homosexuality, and what she saw as a lack of strong female role models in the Bible, explaining "I thought it was a nice guide, but it certainly wasn't how I was going to live my life." Her "religious devotion [began] to wane" at the age of 15 when she guest-starred as a teenager with gonorrhea in the throat in a 1996 episode of the television series Chicago Hope. Her friends at church reacted negatively to her role, making her lose faith in the church. However, she has stated that she still holds her belief in God despite leaving the church.
Relationships and family
While filming Dark Angel in January 2000, Alba began a three year relationship with her co-star Michael Weatherly, which caused controversy due to their 12-year age difference. Weatherly proposed to Alba on her twentieth birthday, which she accepted. In August 2003, Alba and Weatherly announced that they'd ended their relationship.In July 2007, Alba spoke out about the breakup, saying "I don't know [why I got engaged]. I was a virgin. He was 12 years older than me. I thought he knew better. My parents weren't happy. They're really religious. They believe God wouldn't allow the Bible to be written if it wasn't what they are supposed to believe. I'm completely different." Alba had at one time said she envisioned a much older man as her ideal partner, making references to Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, and Michael Caine. She said, "I have this thing for older men. They've been around and know so much."
Alba met Cash Warren, son of actor Michael Warren, while filming Fantastic Four in 2004. Alba married Warren in Los Angeles on Monday, May 19, 2008. They have two daughters: Honor Marie Warren (born 2008) and Haven Garner Warren (born 2011). The first pictures of Honor Marie appeared in the July 2008 issue of OK! magazine, which paid a reported $1.5 million for them.
Charity and politics
In 2005, Alba offered her acting talents for free, to raise money for AIDS charity Amfar at the Cannes Film Festival. The Industry had held a benefit for the US research foundation. Alba had caused "the greatest stir" by promising to star as an unpaid actress in one of The Lord of the Rings producer Bob Weinstein's movies, if Weinstein agreed to bid $100,000 for tennis lessons with sports stars Monica Seles and Boris Becker.
Alba's charity work includes participation with Clothes Off Our Back, Habitat for Humanity, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Project HOME, RADD, Revlon Run/Walk for Women, SOS Children Villages, Soles4Souls, and Step up. Alba openly endorsed and supported Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama during the 2008 primary season. Alba is an ambassador for the 1Goal movement to provide education to children in Africa.
Alba posed for a bondage-themed print advertising campaign by Declare Yourself, a campaign encouraging voter registration among youth for the 2008 United States presidential election. The ads photographed by Mark Liddell, which feature Alba wrapped in and gagged with black tape, drew national media attention. The ads were described by some as being "Shocking". Alba said of doing the advertisements that "it didn't freak me out at all." Alba also said "I think it is important for young people to be aware of the need we have in this country to get them more active politically," and "People respond to things that are shocking."
In June 2009, while filming The Killer Inside Me in Oklahoma City, Alba was involved in a controversy with residents when she pasted posters of sharks around town. Alba said that she was trying to bring attention to the diminishing population of great white sharks. Media outlets speculated that Alba would be pursued and charged with vandalism. On June 16, 2009, Oklahoma City police said that they would not pursue criminal charges against Alba, because none of the property owners wanted to pursue it. Alba apologized in a statement to People magazine and said that she regretted her actions. She later donated an undisclosed amount of money (over $500) to the United Way, whose billboard she had obscured with one of the shark posters.
In 2011, Alba participated in a two day lobbying effort in Washington D.C. in support of the Safe Chemicals Act, a revision of the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
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