Jessica Alba revisits her past as a glamour icon of the 2000s with a critical eye, particularly regarding a scene she now considers "humiliating." This awkward moment speaks volumes about how the perception of actresses and female protagonists has evolved in cinema.
A cult scene… that she regrets
The actress reflects on the "Fantastic Four" scene where her character, Sue Storm, has to undress to become completely invisible. Presented at the time as a "fun and glamorous moment," this scene now appears to her as "a pure pretext for undressing her." Jessica Alba explains that she dreaded the shoot for weeks, feeling exposed, judged, and reduced to her body, far from the complex heroine she had envisioned.
Personal discomfort and a sexist industry
Coming from a conservative family and describing herself as modest, she confides that she experienced this moment as "humiliating" in real life, with a discomfort that persists to this day. Behind the anecdote, she points to an industry dominated by male perspectives, where scenes of bravery are reserved for men while female characters are sexualized. Her testimony illustrates the gap between what a young actress accepts, under the pressure of the system, and what she thinks about it later, with more hindsight and power.
A speech emblematic of a changing era
Jessica Alba recalls that she admired Sue Storm in the comics: a courageous, maternal yet assertive woman with a strong moral compass and a real voice within the team. This potential, she believes, was stifled by directorial choices that transformed the heroine from an inspiring figure into an object of desire. She emphasizes that, thankfully, female representation has evolved since then, with more superheroines written as fully developed characters, and not simply as "visual props."
Ultimately, Jessica Alba's words help to challenge the norms of the 2000s, where the status of a glamour icon seemed inseparable from success. Today, she asserts her right to set her own boundaries and reminds us that no "cult image" is worth the price of lasting humiliation.
