People.com's profile on Jessica
THAT GIRL
Jessica Alba was once mistaken for another full-lipped beauty: Angelina Jolie. "It was a compliment," says the actress (at the Cannes Film Festival in May). "Why would I set them straight?" But producer Charles Eglee saw Alba's own star quality when he cast her in the 2000 FOX series
Dark Angel. "Jessica was very arresting. We said, 'That's the girl.' "
HER GUY
The 24-year-old has been linked to actor Mark Wahlberg and golfer Sergio Garcia, and until 2003 was engaged to her
Dark Angel costar Michael Weatherly, who was 12 years her senior. For the past 11 months, though, Alba has been dating film assistant Cash Warren (left, at a Lakers game in March). "We are the boy-and-girl version of each other," she told
Rolling Stone.
KEEP IT SHORT
After she finished filming her final scene in
Fantastic Four, Alba (left, on April 2; right, on April 13) decided it was time for a change. "We went back to the makeup trailer, and she sat down and said, 'Cut off all my hair,' " says stylist Garret Gervais, who chopped off "about eight inches of heavily processed hair." Alba wanted "something to make her feel young and cute," says Gervais.
GIRLY GIRL
Alba likes to "feel like a lady," and for her, it's all about the clothes. The actress wears (from left) a ruffled Marc Jacobs frock to
Sin City's L.A. premiere in March, a flowy caftan-jeans combo to the 2004 Teen Choice Awards and a flirty dress to the VH1 Divas event in 2004.
MOTHER FIGURE
"I really identified with Sue Storm, definitely with her maternal side," Alba says of her role as scientist-turned-superhero The Invisible Woman in
Fantastic Four. "I'm the oldest of 15 cousins and I’ve been changing diapers since I was 5 years old. In turn, like Sue, I can be a little bit controlling, a little bit of a know-it-all."
SCARE TACTICS
Alba (with Jessica Simpson at the MTV Movie Awards in June) likes to face what frightens her head-on. Though she's terrified of sharks – "It was one of my biggest fears in life," she admitted to
Teen People – she took on a role where she'd have to swim with them: she plays a scuba diver in the upcoming action-adventure film
Into the Blue, due out in September.
BATHING BEAUTY
"Everyone in my family is heavily overweight," Alba (in Miami in January) has said. To keep her figure toned, she leaves desserts and bread off the menu, drinks three liters of water a day and tries to work out daily. Alba is a fan of Tae Bo and elliptical machines. "I work out more when I'm going to be photographed in a bathing suit," she admits.
