Jessica Alba

By Sara Templeton

Jessica Alba used to be most recognised for her work on James Cameron's gothic 'Dark Angel' TV series, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination in 2001. More recently she's been diverse range of high profile movies, including two Fantastic Four flicks.

She also played the genetically enhanced Max from 'Dark Angel', and it's safe to say that Jessica Alba is one of the 'new-breed' of young up-and-comers who promise to make their mark in more than just one entertainment industry... And let's not forget that trademark smile either.

Just delightful!

She's almost like a female Justin Timberlake - a very talented young adult, with spades of charisma, more than a few opinions of her own. Although I'm not sure if she can sing as well as JT...

On more than one occasion she's been voted as the most beautiful woman in the world by a number of lascivious mens magazines, yet another testament to her alluring profile.

Ms. Alba was born in 1981 - on the 28th of April to be precise - in Pomona, California. When she was young, Jessica and her family never stayed put for too long, which was due to her father's involvement with the US Air Force.

After moving here there and everywhere, living in what would have seemed like just about every American state, the Alba's eventually moved to Southern California and decided to settle in 1990, when Jessica was nine.

During all the hustle and bustle of moving, Jessica told her parents she wanted to be an actress and at age 11 partook in acting classes.

It is well documented that less than a year after taking acting lessons, Jessica was picked up by an agent at 12 years old and in 1993 starred in the film Camp Nowhere. This was largely due to the prior lead role of the movie pulling out at the last minute -- perhaps it was destiny?

After shooting Camp Nowhere, Jessica went on to do a number of commercials and small screen gigs in her early teens. Living in California, Jessica learned how to dive and eventually became a certified SCUBA diver. This helped land her the part of Maya in the Flipper series, shot in '95.

In a very scary real-life situation, Jessica was actually kidnapped during the production of a Flipper episode.

Thankfully, the young actor was found alive and well in the boot of a car (no doubt after Jessica's father called in a few favours from his Air Force buddies...).

The Flipper series was Jessica Alba's springboard into the scum-ridden pool many call Hollywood, and after the flop that was Venus Rising in 1996, she nabbed a guest appearance in the medi-drama Chicago Hope.

At age 17, Jessica Alba caught the eye of American soap opera magnate Aaron Spelling and appeared in two episodes of "Beverly Hills 90210", playing the lovely Leanne.

She followed up with a stint on "Love Boat: The Next Wave" and by 1999 she was well-known in Tinsel Town, thanks in part to a barrage of appearances in women's glossy magazines including Vanity Fair.

After landing support roles in Never Been Kissed and Idle Hands, Jessica Alba's star was on the rise, and together with her exotic Mexican/European looks, James Cameron cast her as the lead role in what is now one of the most popular fictional dramas on teevee, Dark Angel.

The always refreshing Jessica Alba is currently engaged to Dark Angel co-star Michael Weatherly (aka Logan), and was signed up by L'Oreal alongside Jennifer Lopez and Milla Jovovich as a Feria Hair Colour spokeswoman.

And, while Jessica has already amassed a large filmic portfolio, you can be sure she's only just starting to hit her stride. Having showed that she can do grungy and violent (she played a stripper) in Sin City in 2005, for which she was awarded the "Sexiest Performance" at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. 

She followed up Sin City with a lead role as Susan Storm in the big budget sci-fi comic-book motion picture, Fantastic Four. Her character had powers that enabled her to create kick-ass force fields. The movie wasn't brilliant in my opinion, but I blame the script...

After filming Into the Blue in 2005, she had a break from movies for a while, and then returned with bang most recently with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007). Now the utterly gorgeous American has just finished work on The Eye, and is working on Sin City 2, which should be another splatter-fest worthy of the original.

Her love life has been the recipient of much media attention as well, and as it turns out Jessica Alba has a penchant for older men:"I have this thing for older men. They've been around and know so much."

Indeed, she's been romantically linked with such leading men as Sean Connery, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford and my favourite Michael Caine.

Alba has revealed that she envisions a much older man as her ideal partner, making references to Morgan Freeman, Sean Connery, Robert Redford, and Michael Caine.

With an aggressive attitude towards her career that is startlingly provocative, we can't wait to see what she's got in store in future. 

Perhaps a J-Lo inspired musical career spin-off? Or maybe she'll launch her own inter-orbit space travel service called "Alba Orbit"? The future is a fun place...