Jessica Alba became a leading lady despite what Hollywood had to say.
The A-list actress, who starred in the TV series “Dark Angel,” told PopSugar this week that early on in her career she would audition for “exotic” roles because her ethnicity couldn’t be pinpointed.
“They were like, ‘You’re not Latin enough to play a Latina, and you’re not Caucasian enough to play the leading lady, so you’re going to be the exotic one.’ Whatever that was,” Alba, whose father is Mexican, told the site.
The experience of being put in a box led her to embrace her Hispanic heritage even further, and prove the point that leading ladies do not need to look a certain way.
“Then I was even more determined to become a leading lady to show that: Girls can look like me and we can be leading ladies,” the 35-year-old explained.
After her breakout performance on “Dark Angel,” Alba went on to the silver screen, starring in films like “Honey,” “Fantastic Four” and “Good Luck Chuck.”
Alba’s acting has taken a backseat recently as she started her own lifestyle brand, The Honest Company, which she launched to allow women to focus on enhancing themselves rather than covering up.
