Actress Jessica Alba has earned and deserved much praise for her wide range of variety in movie and tv roles that she has played. Not all of her movie appearance has been met with rave reviews.
She has at times struggled with bad films that were either poorly written, poorly directed, or a combination of both. Derek Jeter’s ex has always found a way to rise above the critics and continues to produce performances on the big screen and television and is now a prominent businesswoman.
The ethnically mixed actress founded and owns her own company, The Honest Company, specializing in safe and honest baby, beauty, and household products that promote ethical consumerism and natural ingredients.
Jessica Alba shows off her engagement ring from Michael Weatherly at the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider premiere at the Westwood Village Theatre in Los Angeles on June 11, 2001 (Credit: WENN)
On April 21, 1981, Jessica Alba was born in California to parents Catherine Louisa and Mark David Alba. She inherits her mother’s French-Danish heritage and her father’s Mexican-Indian and Spanish lineage.
Her father’s air force career caused them to move to Mississippi and Texas until they settled back in California when Alba was nine years old. At the age of 14, she started acting on television acting in The Secret World of Alex Mack and in the movies Camp Nowhere and Flipper.
Jessica Alba out for a walk with her mother Catherine Louisa (née Jensen) (Credit: WENN)
Alba graduated early from high school at the age of 16 and attended the Atlantic Theater Company. At 19 years old, Alba started to gain notoriety for her performances in the TV series Dark Angel.
The following is a list of Jessica Alba’s top 10 best movies according to the movie critics:
10. Honey (2003) – 21%
In the dramatic movie, Honey, she plays hip-hop choreographer Honey Daniels, a character who wants to make a name in the hip-hop dance world. She teaches dance by day to underserved youth and visits downtown clubs with her friends at night.
She meets a director who wants to make a music video of her but starts demanding sexual favors, yet Honey stands up to him and succeeds despite him. The movie advocates for reaching out to and funding poorer communities. It is a poignant movie that tackles the #MeToo movement even before it was in the spotlight.
Jessica Alba at the premiere of Honey held at the Chelsea West Theater in New York City on November 24, 2013 (Credit: WENN / Vallenilla)
Released on December 5, 2003, Alba was 22 years old when making the movie Honey. Though Alba had experienced some success as a movie actress, she had shifted to a television role in Dark Angel, where she received much praise and recognition.
Honey was her return to the big screen. Even though Rotten Tomatoes gave Honey a low score of 21%, audiences and critics gave the movie a 71%, saying that it is worth seeing.
9. Awake (2007) – 23%
Awake is a conspiracy thriller that did not thrill audiences. Critics and Rotten Tomatoes did give Awake very good ratings, the latter giving Awake a score of 23%. The movie was released on November 30, 2007.
Jessica Alba, aged 24, plays the secret fiancé of the main character, Clay, who needs heart surgery. The man discovers that his surgical team plans to kill him. He realizes this while on the operating table, experiencing anesthesia awareness with a clairvoyant episode.
Hayden Christensen as Clay Beresford, Jr. and Jessica Alba as Samantha “Sam” Lockwood/Tunnel filming the 2007 American conspiracy thriller film Awake on 68th Street and Madison Avenue in New York City on November 17, 2005 (Credit: WENN / Vallenilla)
Alba’s character, Sam Lockwood, is the hidden villainess. Playing the personal assistant to the main character’s mother, she is in on a plan with the surgeon for her to marry Clay and take the money once he is killed on the operating table.
8. Fantastic Four (2005) – 27% and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) – 37%
Jessica Alba plays a superhero named Susan Storm, who has invisibility and force field powers in the Fantastic Four movies. Alba’s character, a researcher, got her superpowers while on a space station doing research when the whole team is exposed to a cosmic storm.
She played Susan Storm in both the Fantastic Four movie and in the Rise of the Silver Surfer. Her performances gained her nominations for Best Hero and Best On-Screen Team at the 2006 MTV Awards.
The Fantastic Four was released on July 8, 2005, when she was 24 years old and has a Rotten Tomato score of 27%.
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was released on June 15, 2007, when the actress was 26 years old and earned a Rotten Tomato Score of 37%.
Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, and Chris Evans as Johnny Storm in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Credit: 20th Century Fox)
Jessica Alba admits to wanting to quit acting after her experience with the Marvel Studios movie the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Her experience caused her to doubt her ability to act as the director was quoted to have criticized her acting, saying her acting looked “too real… Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica.”
She also felt that she did not have creative license with her character, and writers and directors were not open to dialogue regarding her ideas. When she voiced these frustrations, she received some backlash from the writers and directors alike.
Even though the Fantastic Four was not the set of her dreams, she met her husband, Cash Warren, on the first movie set. Warren was a director’s assistant while she played the superhero when she was 23. They were married in 2008, and they have three children, Honor, Haven, and Hayes.
7. Mechanic: Resurrection (2016) – 31%
Jessica Alba plays the character of Gina in Mechanic: Resurrection. Though her character is kidnapped by her boyfriend’s old enemy, Alba’s character is anything but a damsel in distress.
She worked with directors, writers, and producers to craft a character that could stand up to being the love interest of a hard care assassin boyfriend.
Dennis Gansel, Jessica Alba, and Jason Statham the premiere of Summit Entertainment’s ‘Mechanic: Resurrection’ at ArcLight Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, on August 22, 2016 (Credit: Michael Boardman / WENN)
Jessica Alba, age 35 at the time of filming, said that she was thrilled that her character was able to have “toughness and a real heart” that showcased the character’s complexities of being a social worker with a military background.
Staring with Jason Statham, she had fun having a role where she could “kick butt” alongside the famous action movie star. The movie was released on August 26, 2016, and received a 31% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
6. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) – 42%
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is a sequel to the popular and one of Alba’s best movies, Sin City, released August 22, 2014.
The sequel aired nine years after the original movie and probably suffered due to the time gap. Jessica Alba (33) plays a character named Nancy, who is dealing with the aftermath of another character’s sacrificial suicide.
Model Anastassija Makarenko, actors Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba attend the premiere of Dimension Films’ “Sin City: A Dame To Kill For” at TCL Chinese Theatre on August 19, 2014, in Hollywood, California (Credit: FayesVision / WENN)
Jessica Alba said of her character in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, “She was more naive in the first film. Ignorance was bliss. In this one, there’s no bliss and no ignorance. I wanted her to transition from being a victim to being someone who’s in control of her own story.”
Alba even sees her Hollywood career reflected in her character, saying that she developed a fearlessness and quality that she did not have in her early years as an actress.
Almost a decade since her earlier performance in Sin City, Alba felt like just has her role evolved, so did the actress herself as she was 33 at the time of the filming.
5. The Killer Inside Me (2010) – 55%
In the erotic crime thriller, Jessica Alba stars alongside Hollywood stars Casey Affleck and Kate Hudson. She played the role of a prostitute named Joyce Lakeland, who gets involved in a sadomasochistic relationship and is eventually killed.
Released on September 28, 2010, the movie received mixed reviews due to the violent content and disturbing material that some critics felt was too controversial for the big screen and has received a Rotten Tomato Score of 55%.
Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson attend the “The Killer Inside Me” premiere during the 9th Annual Tribeca Film Festival at the SVA Theater on April 27, 2010, in New York City (Credit: WENN)
The movie departs from Alba’s usual audience-friendly films like the Fantastic Four movies or Spy Kids. She wanted to have the opportunity to work with a more experienced director who knew how to pull the performance out of her. She starred in this movie when she 29.
She likens her experience with The Killer Inside Me to her experience with Sin City, where the director helped her bring the character to life.
4. Never Been Kissed (1999) – 55%
Jessica Alba start in the 1999 movie Never Been Kissed when she was 17 years old. Never Been Kissed, released on October 26, 1999, is a romantic comedy that starred Drew Barrymore and was director James Franco’s big-screen debut.
It is about a young copywriter who goes undercover in a local high school. Barrymore’s character must befriend fellow students like Alba’s character named Kirsten.
Though Alba had only a minor role as a popular mean girl in the film, the movie is a fan favorite and features some of Jessica Alba’s best acting. The movie has a Rotten Tomato Score of 55%.
Jessica Alba expressed gratitude toward Drew Barrymore for giving her and unknown actors like her a chance in their movies. She has thanked Barrymore for the platform and opportunity that Never Been Kissed gave her. Jessica Alba got to celebrate her 17th birthday on set.
3. Machete (2010) – 72%
Jessica Alba plays Sartana Rivera in the 2010 action film Machete. Some consider the movie a spinoff of the Sky Kids movies, in which Jessica Alba also stars. In Machete, Alba is an immigration officer struggling between enforcing the law and family expectations.
Director Robert Rodriguez, Actress Jessica Alba and Actor Danny Trejo attends the “Machete” photocall during the 67th Venice Film Festival at the Palazzo del Casino on September 1, 2010, in Venice, Italy (Credit: WENN)
In Machete, Alba’s nude scene is not really a nude scene. Jessica Alba has a nudity clause as a standard part of all her contracts.
For the scene in Machete, she wore under that were later digitally removed during the editing process. She also had body doubles for sex scenes in a 2003 movie.
Jessica Alba won the ALMA Award for Favorite Movie Actress – Movie/Adventure for her role in Machete but the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress. The movie, which was released on September 3, 2010, when Jessica Alba was 29 has a Rotten Tomato score of 72%.
2. Sin City (2005) – 77%
In this dark neo-noir compilation of four stories, Sin City is one of Jessica Alba’s most well-known and best performances. She plays the character Nancy Callahan who is the love interest of the main character.
Jessica Alba and Clive Owen arrive at the UK premiere of “Sin City” at the Empire Leicester Square on May 23, 2005, in London, England (Credit: Daniel Deme / WENN)
Her character is so distraught over the death of her lover that she slashes all her hair off and cuts into her face. Critics and audiences alike loved Sin City, and it was given a 77% by Rotten Tomatoes.
Alba says that the role was fun because it was so opposite to whom she has played as an actress and who she is as a person. At the age of 24, the role was a change from her earlier movies of Honey and Never Been Kissed. The film was released in theaters on April 1, 2005.
1. Stretch (2014) – 88%
Though a little-known movie, not released to the big theaters, Stretch receives a high 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Jessica Alba, age 33, plays a more reserved female character named Charlie who is the receptionist at a limo company.
She helps guide the main character who is a limo driver that needs to pay off a large gambling debt. The main character picks up a billionaire and attempts to fulfill all the client’s requests. The movie is a mixture of dark comedy and thriller and is a unique film.
Jessica Alba as receptionist Charlie in the 2014 American comedy crime film Stretch (Credit: Universal Pictures)
Stretch was meant to be released on the big screen, but Universal Pictures removed it from their schedule because of cost. The movie was released to streaming services on November 25, 2014, and still received a fair amount of media attention.
Jessica Alba wears her hair down for a casual Sunday with her family in Beverly Hills on March 6, 2016 (Credit: WENN)
Hollywood seems to hold the record for some of the shortest marriages in the history of mankind, which means it’s absolutely crucial for a celebrity to do whatever it takes to protect his or her family.
So even though superstar Jessica Alba is tasked with managing her million-dollar business — The Honest Company — she makes sure to keep her family time as normal and low-key as possible.
In March 2016, the actress-turned-entrepreneur was spotted enjoying a casual Sunday with her husband Cash Warren and their two daughters.
Jessica Alba wears a casual look comprised of an Inhabit cardigan and jeans while out with her family (Credit: WENN)
Jessica wore a white ribbed top with loose chambray pants beneath a long blue cardigan by Inhabit.
The mom-of-two accessorized her Sunday look with jewelry from Cartier, a purse from Anya Hindmarch, and embellished denim-and-leather “Happy” sneakers from Christian Dior.
Jessica Alba wears a pair of casual Christian Dior sneakers (Credit: WENN)
The family was spotted grabbing groceries together, as the parents guided their children into an awaiting car afterward.
Jessica Alba and her family go grocery shopping in Beverly Hills (Credit: WENN)
Later that day, Cash uploaded a hilarious photo of their eldest daughter in front of the television, wrapped in balloons.
“For some reason, I don’t think she wants me to watch golf right now,” he captioned it.
Via Cash Warren’s social media, captioned “For some reason, I don’t think she wants me to watch golf right now” (Credit: Cash Warren’s Instagram)
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