Jessica Alba Once Shared How Motherhood Helped Her Embrace Her Sexuality
As with some actors, Jessica Alba experienced a significant change after becoming a parent. The star, who was once a bit uncomfortable with the idea of being a sex symbol, embraced her sexuality after motherhood.
Jessica Alba experienced a life crisis after being labeled a sex symbol
Before her career as an entrepreneur, Alba was one of Hollywood’s premiere actors. But the Fantastic Four actor noticed her film roles following a pattern that she grew uncomfortable with. Alba found herself being mostly typecast as characters designed to exude sex appeal, with a few notable exceptions. And this was something that greatly put the actor off.
“I sort of went through a life crisis,” she once said in an interview with InStyle (via Daily Mail). “This isn’t what I set out to be. I’m so much more than this, but I don’t know how not to be a sex symbol.”
Alba felt her status as a sex symbol began after taking on one of her breakthrough roles in the TV series Dark Angel. Afterward, she spent a portion of her young adult years trying to adjust to her newfound role.
“I remember my first Maxim shoot, they were telling me to pose a certain way, and I was like, ‘Agh! I’m 19. I’m a virgin. I don’t even know how to do that.’ It was so awkward,” she recalled.
Jessica Alba once shared how motherhood helped her embrace her sexuality
Alba began to feel more comfortable around the idea of her sexuality after becoming a mother. The Sin City star shares three children with her husband Cash Warren and was adamant that doing so changed her for the better.
“Having babies helped me embrace my sexuality. Up until then, I was quite shy about it,” Alba once said in an interview with Allure (via Contact Music). “But once I experienced how incredible and amazing it was to create a life, it was empowering. Now, I feel freer to express myself and just be me. Through motherhood I really came into my own and, for me, feeling sexy is all about this type of comfort, confidence, and true happiness.”
Alba also asserted that she no longer had time to worry about her own issues due to tending to her children.
“I don’t really care about my body image anymore because it just doesn’t matter now that I have children. Instead, I focus on my health, feeling strong, and making sure I’m up and running so I can spend that all-important time with the girls,” she said.
How starting a family has changed Jessica Alba’s career
Having children not only made Alba more comfortable with being a sex symbol, but also slightly changed her career choices altogether. As many know, Alba co-founded The Honest Company in 2011. In its infancy, the organization sold household and baby products to potential customers. Later on, it would sell a variety of beauty products, expanding its reach.
Speaking to Fatherly, Alba revealed that she took a bit of a hiatus from acting to focus on her company because of motherhood. But the break helped. After Alba came back to acting, she wasn’t as picky as she once was with film roles.
“You know, I stopped acting a little bit to have my business when I became a mom. Now I’m at a place where I can really think about getting back into acting and diving in head first,” Alba said. “It’s a bit different now because I really look at acting as a creative outlet and less as a thing that defines me as a person. I get to explore and play people that aren’t me, and that’s actually what makes it fun. So it serves a different purpose than it did.”
