For a brief period, Jessica Alba was one of Hollywood’s best-known stars. She started young and took Hollywood by storm in the early 2000’s, starring in films like Fantastic Four and Sin City. She is known as one of Hollywood’s biggest names, but little is known about her rather eventful upbringing – and it was rather eventful. Things have happened to Jessica Alba that many wouldn’t register as things that they would expect to happen to anyone, let alone a famous actor. Here’s what went down behind the scenes of Alba’s life, and how she strong-armed her obstacles to overcome her troubled past and forge a new unexpected path in her life and career.
Jessica Alba was born to young parents of modest means in California. Her Mexican-American father, who was at one point a U.S. airman, worked nights as a cook at a rib joint to make ends meet, and her mother, a young woman with Danish and French roots, flipped burgers by day and bartended at night.
But Alba never felt connected to that reality. “I was born with a wicked sense of entitlement,” she has admitted. “I always thought I was born into the wrong family, that I was… royalty and nobody knew it but me.” Alba would climb out of her predicament, overcoming tremendous hardship along the way. Throughout it all, she’d overcome one of the biggest challenges of her life.
Starting from a very young age, Jessica Alba’s self-confessed sense of entitlement often translated into a rebellious attitude, which was sometimes problematic considering she was the daughter of a U.S. airman and raised in a Christian home. In preschool, a run-in with her teacher totally changed the way she viewed adults.
Alba was working on an assignment in class when her teacher approached her. The teacher noticed Alba writing with her left hand, and to that particular teacher, it was intolerable. The young girl was forced to practice writing with her right hand. She simply couldn’t understand why, and no one could explain it to her. “I have had a big problem with authority ever since,” she said. That rebellious attitude would take her places she never expected to go.
Jessica Alba was particularly perceptive as a young girl. The more she grew, the more she began to take notice that her life wasn’t as simple as the lives of some of her peers. Her parents married in their teens and had two kids – her and her brother, Joshua – by the time they were 20 and 21.
Often, she told Rolling Stone, it felt like “we all grew up together.” Alba needed to escape from her family situation, and by the age of five, she began to express her desire to act. Not everything a five-year-old says is to be taken seriously, but Alba wasn’t joking. She’d prove it sooner than anyone would expect. It wasn’t only her parents’ youth that caused her problems growing up, though.
Jessica Alba partly owes her unique look to her diverse ancestry – Danish, French and Mexican make for an interesting combination. But that background wasn’t always easy to grapple with. Growing up, she felt like she didn’t really belong anywhere. It’s a problem that is known to sometimes plague bi-racial children.
She wasn’t white, yet she was also shunned by the Latin community for not being Latin enough. All the uncertainty at home instilled in Alba an unrivaled ambition to make something of herself – to become the royalty she’d always envisioned herself as being. Beyond that, though, Alba didn’t always see her appearance in a positive light.
Jessica Alba was raised by a religious Christian family with strict house rules. Perhaps one of the biggest in many more religious homes is no physical intimacy before marriage and values of modesty. As she began growing into a woman, Jessica Alba dressed modestly but still couldn’t escape the attention of men – often men older than herself.
She didn’t like the attention and confided in her youth pastor, who then made a comment about her choice of clothes that made her uncomfortable. Since the incident, Alba felt self-conscious about her body. Things would turn up for her soon, but the wild ride wouldn’t end after success.
Shunned by the Latin community and not accepted as white, Jessica Alba had trouble socially in school – she was even bullied. No doubt, it was partly because of her mature outlook. The young Alba didn’t care for the trivialities of childhood – she wanted to make something of herself, and fast.
When she turned 11, Alba convinced her mother to take her to an acting contest out in Beverly Hills. The competition’s winner was entitled to free acting classes. Spoiler alert: Alba most definitely won and enrolled in her first ever acting lessons. What happened next would stun her and her family.
Once Jessica Alba started acting lessons, she proved the she was talented at the craft right away. Just nine months after starting acting lessons, the 12-year-old Alba was signed by a talent agent! It was extremely impressive, but she had seen it coming. It was the moment she had been waiting for her entire life – one big step closer to the royalty she always dreamed of.
From then on, things would start to turn up for the young actress. But even so, Alba has yet to face what was possibly the most bizarre incident of her entire life. Early in her career, something truly terrifying would happen to Jessica Alba.
About a year after she was signed by a talent agent, Jessica Alba starred in her first film, the 1994 comedy Camp Nowhere. She had already grown into a young woman and also begun doing modeling work on the side, along with some commercials. It was a lot for a young teenager to take in. Soon, she’d be doing even bigger things.
For the young Alba, though, things were just too good to be true at the time. Indeed, something strange was brewing. It was around this time that Jessica Alba became the target of a rather mysterious crime that no one can explain to this day.
When Jessica Alba turned 15, she landed a role in a remake of a classic aquatic adventure series called Flipper. It was her first major role in a television show, and it was filmed in Australia. To say that she was excited at the time would be an understatement. Unfortunately, that’s when a series of strange events began to take place.
While on set one day, Alba received a strange phone call from an unidentifiable man. She dismissed it as a crazed fan, but the strange man kept calling. It was truly starting to creep her out. Who was this person? What did he want from her?
Jessica Alba continued showing up to set, and she kept getting the calls from the strange man. Again, she reassured herself that it must be some crazy fan. It’s not as though she would have been the first young actress to be stalked by a fan! Perhaps, though, she should have been more alarmed than she was.
The man continued to call. Even if he were just a fan, it seemed calling wouldn’t suffice for him for too much longer. One day, something would happen to Jessica Alba on set – very suddenly – that would prove something else was going on.
One day, Jessica Alba was getting takes in on the set of Flipper. She didn’t know something bizarre was brewing beneath the surface on that day. Apparently, someone was lurking around the set and no one noticed it. Then it happened – someone crept up behind Alba and snatched her off the set.
It didn’t take long for the folks on the set to notice she was gone. Her co-stars, her producers – everyone – was baffled when they noticed she was missing. To where could the 15-year-old have wandered off on her own? And on the job? It wasn’t like her to be so irresponsible. Something else was going on, they thought.
The rest of the cast was totally bewildered. Together, they came to the conclusion that something strange was happening. There was no way Alba would have just wandered off while filming. And once they realized there may have been some third party involved with her disappearance, the cast and production team began to get worried.
They searched all over for her. Still, they couldn’t find her anywhere. Eventually they decided they needed help and took matters a step further, calling the local authorities for help. So what was going on? Where was their young actress? Surely, the police could get to the bottom of this.
When police were notified of Jessica Alba’s strange disappearance, they took it very seriously. Of course, the fact that she was a minor at the time made matters all the more pressing. Furthermore, the authorities weren’t in any mood to let a potential kidnapper escape with a young American actress.
Investigators were tasked with finding Jessica Alba, and they searched every lead they had. Like the show’s other cast members, the authorities too suspected foul play. But was it? What exactly happened on that day? Soon enough, they’d learn more. What they eventually found would both shock and baffle them.
It was nearing the 14th hour of Jessica Alba’s sudden disappearance. Though they didn’t totally know it yet, investigators were nearing the end of their search. They’d finally find the missing actress they were looking for. When they eventually found her they simply couldn’t believe their eyes.
It was like one of Alba’s later movie scenes, only this was real – very real. Investigators finally closed in on Jessica Alba and discovered her tied up and gagged in the trunk of a car. It was truly an unbelievable sight and begged the question: How in the world did she get there?
Alba was pulled out of the trunk, her hands were unbound and she was given something to drink. After she calmed down, the authorities wanted to know how she ended up in the back of that trunk. Seriously, what happened? They asked her. Astonishingly, Jessica didn’t talk! She didn’t tell them anything.
No other evidence of foul play was discovered, and if the alleged victim herself couldn’t tell them anything, police were forced to drop the case altogether. It seems the world might never know what really happened on that day. Though strange, it’s far from the only fact about Jessica Alba’s private life that is sure to fascinate you.
After her mysterious kidnapping, the up-and-coming star was understandably shaken up. But the incident didn’t deter her from enjoying her life. She continued to advance her acting career and even started dating men in this period. Her Christian faith instructed her to steer clear of serious physical intimacy before marriage and she adhered to that rule throughout most of her teens.
But she didn’t see anything wrong with going out with people. What’s the harm in that? Dating isn’t easy for any teen, but at some point, many young people meet that special someone. Indeed, Alba would soon meet someone older who would change her forever.
Believe it or not, there was a point in time when even Jessica Alba wasn’t confident in her ability to attract and successfully date men. Perhaps it was because of what she has described as a poor reputation she had in school, but Alba has said that “hardly anyone” ever asked her out in her teen years.
As a result, the young actress dated “whoever asked her out.” One day, she met someone totally unexpected that just blew her away – so much so that she even began to question her views on religion. Who was this mystery man, and how did he do it?
Most of the guys Alba went on dates with as a teen simply didn’t interest her, she later said. She just felt too mature for them – all they wanted to do was “hang and drink beer.” And who can blame her? Those were hardly hobbies suitable for a young woman who was already kick-starting a career in show business.
But one day, a man who was a little older than Alba asked her out, and she said yes. He was well out of high school and not exactly a man her parents would approve of. He would be different from all the other dates she’d ever been on. But who was he?
Through all the immature teenage boys Jessica Alba sifted through during her high school career, she finally met someone who actually caught her attention. Not too long after she was kidnapped, Alba, now 16, began seeing a bisexual dancer. She would meet him at a club four nights a week, and the two just formed an intensely deep connection.
She has even described falling in love with the man. Perhaps there was a forbidden fruit complex at play considering her born-again Christian friends’ disapproval of their relationship led Alba to challenge her religious views. But would Alba and the dancer last?
Eventually, Jessica Alba’s relationship with the older man led her to question her religious beliefs and everything she was taught as a child. “I was so in love with him and thought, ‘There’s no way this guy’s going to hell,'” she has said of her real first crush.
The experience led her toward a more secular life path. No longer would she refrain from doing things she wanted to do in the name of her religion. Unfortunately, though, the relationship didn’t last too long. Soon, Alba’s big acting break would come, and with it, a change of attitude toward dating.
After playing on Flipper, Jessica Alba partook in a string of guest appearances, hoping to get her big break and really get her career on the road. Evidently, the young actress also enjoyed a wild period in her private life, dating and living like a normal teenager.
She had worked her entire young adult life for it, and the moment of truth had finally arrived. The incredibly talented Alba finally secured her breakthrough role as the lead of the sci-fi series Dark Angel. The film would bring other news for the up-and-coming star. On the set, she would meet the man with whom she’d start her first serious relationship.
Jessica Alba’s 18th birthday solidified her transformation from bullied young girl to one of the most desired women in the world, and the suitors were numerous. It was on the set of Dark Angel that she started dating fellow actor Michael Weatherly, who was 12 years her senior.
Alba was very much into Weatherly, and after her spiritual change of heart during her previous relationship, she decided she would no longer wait until marriage to be intimate. Things with Weatherly advanced quickly – they really just clicked. Indeed, only two years after they met, Weatherly would take things to the next level. But was he the one?
By the time Jessica Alba was 19 years old, she was flying high. She was landing roles left and right, and dating a fellow actor she really liked – life was good. By most standards, Alba had successfully climbed into a life akin to royalty. Just when she thought things couldn’t get any better… well, they would.
On Alba’s 20th birthday, something truly incredible happened. Michael Weatherly proposed to her! Despite their 12-year age difference and disapproval from her parents, she said yes to the first man she had ever been intimate with. It was quite the birthday gift. But would it last?
Jessica Alba was only 18 when she started dating the 30-year-old Weatherly, and while it was a good relationship while it lasted, the two broke it off in 2003, just three years after they married. It turned out Alba was too young and inexperienced to dive into such serious commitment.
Now that Alba actually gained real-life dating experience within the world of show business, she was starting to recognize her worth more than ever. She was landing one role after the other through her hard work and talent, and now she was also single once again. What would she do next?
After her breakup with Weatherly, Jessica Alba enjoyed a “wild period with men for a second,” as she put it. She had dated actor Mark Wahlberg and baseball star Derek Jeter, both of whom she described as “really nice guys.” But flings were never Alba’s thing – she was the driven and responsible type.
While Alba knew most of her life that she wanted to become a successful actor, she was never really the type to want to date someone purely based on status. Soon, she’d meet someone else who would blow her mind – more than ever before. But was this one an actor?
In 2004, Jessica Alba was cast as Susan Storm – otherwise known as the Invisible Woman – in Fantastic Four, another major milestone of her career. On the set, she met someone that really caught her attention. Was it one of her insanely famous co-stars?
But, actually, the answer is no. Instead of falling for a fellow actor, this time, Jessica Alba had her eye on a behind-the-scenes man. He was a production assistant named Cash Warren. “It was kind of a love-at-first-sight thing,” she has later recalled of their first encounter. There was just one problem with this whole situation.
Jessica Alba was totally smitten with Cash Warren. But it turned out at the time that the actress and future entrepreneur was already dating someone else when she and Cash met. So the two started as just friends – maybe flirtatious friends, but friends nevertheless.
Despite the fact that she was seeing another man at the time, Alba was “attracted to [Warren’s] spirit.” The attraction was so strong that, luckily for Cash, he wouldn’t remain in the friend zone for long. He made sure of it. One day, Warren did something that, while a little cliché, ended up being nail in the coffin of Alba’s prior relationship.
As their friendship developed, it became increasingly difficult for Jessica Alba and Cash Warren to stay “just friends.” When it’s there, it’s there, and for the two of them, the natural chemistry was too strong to resist. Finally, Cash Warren decided he would do something about it.
He was even creative about it. The assistant producer walked up to the woman of his dreams and handed her a note signed with a dollar sign (because his name is Cash). All it said was “I really, really like you.” Alba has said she felt the same way at the time he gave her the note. In fact, she was already smitten by him.
And so, just like that, Jessica Alba parted ways with her then-boyfriend in order to be with Cash Warren. “If I met Cash and I was married to somebody else, I would have to get a divorce. We make that much sense together,” she has recalled of the beginning of their time together.
Nevertheless, Warren was very jealous when they first started dating, and Jessica Alba got fed up. At one point, the actress even decided to end things with Warren. That didn’t last long, though. Just a few months later, the two were back together and Alba was pregnant. Oh, and they also got engaged! Sometimes, dramatic relationships succeed too.
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren wed in 2008, and have been together since their initial fallout. That’s ten years strong! The actress has since won various awards, including the Choice Actress Teen Choice Award and Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television.
But Alba has also pivoted toward the world of business, becoming an entrepreneur herself. She co-founded The Honest Company, which sells baby, personal and household products. “I’ve actually met a surprising number of people over the years who know me only from Honest. Even my kids didn’t know I was in the entertainment industry because I took a step back,” she told InStyle Magazine in August, 2019. It appears Alba was dead serious about that whole royalty thing, and she isn’t going away anytime soon. She dabbled in charity and activism as well. Frankly, who knows what she’ll do next!
Sources: Nicki Swift, Rolling Stone, Mirror
