Jessica Alba Conquers Her Personal Demons Through 'Sin City' and Other Film Roles
Jessica Alba recently opened up about overcoming personal challenges with help from her acting career, including her role in the upcoming film "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For."
The 33-year-old starlet, who was raised Catholic, is celebrating the journey she has taken through Hollywood today. Alba discussed a breakthrough that occurred while working with an acting coach that allowed her to solve personal issues through her film roles.
"She's so rad," the star said of her acting coach while speaking to Maxim. "She really believes that actors are here to tell stories and to heal people through healing themselves. And she believes that every character is about you healing something in your life."
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Without revealing details about which inner battles Alba faced because "it's so personal," the actress revealed a deeper self-confidence after working through the problems.
"I don't want to talk about my issues," Alba explained. "But I definitely feel like I tackled something and came out the other side. Everything that led up to all this was worth it. I'm really comfortable in my own skin, and I'm not apologizing for myself."
The "Sin City" franchise star went on to highlight the importance of separating one's self from the show business industry.
"If you put your whole identity behind this business, it's brutal," she told Maxim. "It chews you up and spits you out; it spits out a lot of people."
To combat the effects Hollywood can have, Alba balances her career with family. The actress has been married to producer Cash Warren since 2008, and the couple shares two daughters.
"I have 'Sin City' coming out so I'll be doing a lot of press I'm sure," she said. "We also have weekend family BBQs at home."
Safekeeping her identity is not the only way Alba has set herself apart in Hollywood. In the past, the actress has cited her Catholic upbringing as the reason for refusing to do nude scenes on film.
"I'll never do a nude scene," she told the U.K.'s Scarlet magazine in 2010. "I can act sexy and wear sexy clothes but I can't go naked. I think I was always very uncomfortable about the way my body developed … I come from a very Catholic family so it wasn't seen as a good thing to flaunt yourself like that. I can handle being sexy with clothes on but not with them off."
As for Alba's religious beliefs today, the "Barely Lethal" star gave an interview this year explaining that she has moved away from her childhood church.
"I was like, 'These are not my people,'" Alba told Glamour magazine. "My parents did the best they could with what they had. They were just trying to survive. I was raised by my grandparents and my parents – my grandmother was a very religious Catholic, and my parents became born-again Christians later. So that was hard-core. It's very different than how [my children are] being raised. I was into God. I really went for it, man … The further I got into it, it wasn't for me. But I'm very close to my family [today]. Church gave me that enlightenment, that there's something bigger than yourself. I'm still connected to a spiritual thing, just not that."
"Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" hits theaters on Aug. 22.
