Jessica Alba knows the ins and outs of hollywood after a lifetime navigating them, adapting and transforming as part of his industry. At 41, she is an actress, producer and businesswoman. Her career began when she was 13 years old in film and television to suddenly carry the crown of sex-symbol and world phenomenon at 19 as a result of the success of Dark Angel. However, fame and recognition brought with it the darker side of the business. The one that so many actresses have uncovered in recent yearsforcing young Jessica to turn into a chameleon to protect herself.
This was revealed by the actress in an episode of Who’s talking to Chris Wallace? from HBO Max and CNN (via Variety), sharing with the world that he adopted a more masculine persona in those early stages in Hollywood. That he did it on purpose to avoid being stalked by various sexual predators, while his professional image adhered to the prototype of a fashionable sex symbol. “I guess I understood that I had to help sell the product.” she told Wallace when asked if she minded the media objectifying her as a sex symbol. “I understood that it was a business and strategic decision. So I was able to distance myself.” explained. However, she was very young and the objectification took its toll on her, making her feel “nervous” and “uncomfortable” in his own skin.
“It wasn’t until I became a mom that I really began to see myself as a woman or a sexual being or someone who owned her power and her femininity.Alba continued. “At that point, I felt like I had to put on an armor of masculinity and masculine energy so that, you know, I wouldn’t get taken advantage of, because there were a lot of predators in Hollywood from 12 to 26 years old.”.
This way, Jessica Alba he chose to protect himself by adopting a tougher and more masculine disguise. “I was a warrior. She emitted that energy”, he added. “I was really tough. Cursed like a sailor […] I think I tried to make myself as inaccessible as possible so they wouldn’t take advantage of me.”
All of us who live the professional ascent of Jessica Alba between 2000 and 2002 with the series created by James Cameron we can notice the contrast to which he refers between the lines. She was the fashionable girl. She had outbid more than 1,000 other candidates who also wanted the role of super soldier Max Guevara, winning over James Cameron, the public and the industry along the way. The series lasted only two seasons, but they were enough to launch her to stardom as a symbol of female heroism. However, despite the feminist airs of her character, the actress did not escape objectification under the superficial title of sex-symbol.
His face and figure were everywhere. Maxim magazine included her multiple times on its Hot 100 list, People named her one of the 50 Most Beautiful People while FHM and Playboy also added her to their Sexiest Women list. While the first films of her, Honey (2003) and Sin City: City of Sin (2005) they made the most of their beauty and sex appeal. However, this was the face towards the industry and the public. Because behind the spotlights he lived a personal transformation to protect himself from sexual harassment. Like a chameleon.
Five years ago, the most rotten Pandora’s box in Hollywood was uncovered through the accusations of abuse perpetrated by Harvey Weinstein and the consequent domino effect. Thanks to the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, dozens of women in the industry felt protected enough to finally share their experiences. And Jessica Alba was one of them when she said in 2018 to CNN’s TalkAsia who experienced sexual harassmentall the time”.
Because, in her experience and having started so young, she realized that bullying was something she just had to accept as part of the business. “I guess you shouldn’t accept it, but as a young actress growing up in the industry, you accepted that it was the way you were going to be treated.” he said, adding that bullying used to happen in different ways. “There were many different circumstances. He’s been doing this since he was 12 years old. Imagine what it would be like.”
With all the stories we know now, it is devastating to imagine that an actress in the midst of puberty and adolescence has seen the need to build a different person to protect herself. She being masculine, rude and foul-mouthed, in order to show an image that the harassers would reject. That they did not see her as the sexy woman of the movies and magazines. And although her revelation does not surprise us at this point, it is still an atrocious truth when it comes to one more woman who ended up normalizing the harassment around her to the point of finding protection methods while practically being a girl.
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