Why Jessica Alba “hated” working on ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’
At one point in the early 2000s, there were few more promising young actors than Jessica Alba, a rising star of the 1990s who broke into movie making at the dawn of the new millennium. With striking looks and fearlessness in the face of challenging performances, Alba took on a number of demanding roles in Guy Jenkin’s 2003 film The Sleeping Dictionary and Bille Woodruff’s dance movie Honey.
Both aforementioned films were mere stepping stones in her approach to her most major cinematic role in Marvel’s Fantastic Four, however, where she appeared alongside the likes of Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Chiklis, as Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman. Released long before the dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, these movies weren’t received with the same international attention but were beloved nonetheless.
Taking $333.5 million from the worldwide box office, however, 20th Century Fox was eager to make a sequel two years later, releasing Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007. Though, thanks to the first movie, as well as the success of the Robert Rodriguez comic-book movie Sin City, which starred Alba alongside Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke and Clive Owen, the actor now had a far wider fanbase on her shoulders.
As such, the actor went so far as to state that the film almost made her quit the profession altogether, telling Elle Magazine in an enlightening interview, “I wanted to stop acting. I hated it. I really hated it”.
Speaking about her experience on set with filmmaker Tim Story, Alba recalls, “I remember when I was dying in Silver Surfer. The director was like, ‘It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica’”. As a result of this harrowing experience, she explained, “it all got me thinking: Am I not good enough? Are my instincts and my emotions not good enough?… And so I just said, ‘F**k it. I don’t care about this business anymore’”.
Indeed, Alba’s career certainly slowed down after the release of Rise of the Silver Surfer, with the movie standing as a high point for her time as an actor, despite starring in many movies after its release. Though her profile rose in prominence, consistent box-office failure with such films as Good Luck Chuck, The Eye, The Love Guru and An Invisible Sign meant that her star persona quickly lost value.
Speaking in a separate interview on an episode of iHeartRadio’s Let’s Be Real with Sammy Jaye, Alba revealed her insecurities about the industry, explaining, “I felt so judged…I was my worst critic. I think I didn’t feel worthy…I just admired people who just were swaggy on set”.
Thankful that she took a step back from the spotlight, she admits, “I think taking a break for so long from it and literally having no consequence to whether it works or not, it allows me to have the freedom as a storyteller to just be completely present and try things, and I really love it. And it’s brought me real joy”.
Take a look at the trailer for Jessica Alba’s finest cinematic hour in Robert Rodriguez’s Sin City, below.
