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Jessica Alba has been in the entertainment industry since the late 1990s, and her screen presence has earned her a well-deserved fan following. Breaking out with Max Guevara in Dark Angel to Sue Storm in Fantastic Four, Alba has shown the ability to be a lead star in blockbuster thrillers as well as the ability to pull off character-driven screenplays.

Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four | Credit: 20th Century Studios

There are many unnoticed performances throughout Alba’s filmography, as fans mostly remember her as a superhero and action movie actress. Let’s take a look at these lesser-known films to see other aspects of her acting besides the roles that put her on the map.

5. Idle Hands (1999)

This is a quirky horror-comedy movie in which Jessica Alba featured before joining Hollywood’s big league. Idle Hands is about an idle teenager whose hand gets possessed and goes on a killing rampage all around.

Jessica Alba can easily be one of the most beautiful actresses in the Hollywood industry with several highly acclaimed movies and shows to her name. The actress started working at the age of 13 and started her acting career with Camp Nowhere (1994). But her breakthrough role came with the James Cameron-created series Dark Angel in 2000.

Jessica Alba in Dark Angel (2000) | Credits: Fox

She was just 19 years old at the time and played the role of Max Guevara alongside actor Michael Weatherly. While this was definitely a great opportunity for her, the intense schedule of filming the show caused a lot of trouble for Jessica Alba.

Jessica Alba Had a Grueling Schedule When She Participated in the Dark Angel Series

After working on some not-so-famous projects, Jessica Alba got her big break in James Cameron’s sci-fi show Dark Angel in 2000. In this, she played a genetically engineered cyborg named Max Guevara.

This post contains spoilers for "Trigger Warning."

Remember "Dark Angel?" The 2000 sci-fi drama series that starred Jessica Alba in her breakthrough role really left a mark on those who favor stories set in dystopian, cyberpunk-influenced futures. The show has Alba playing Max Guevara (X5-452), a genetically enhanced super-soldier who escapes from a government facility to fight corruption and crime under the guise of a cat burglar. "Dark Angel" positioned Alba firmly as an action hero with a knack for excelling in fight scenes, as Max's existence is marked with violent vigilantism and a fluid approach to confrontation. Indeed, Alba has only continued to shine in action-centric roles over the years that've followed. That includes her recent foray into the genre with Netflix's "Trigger Warning," in which she plays Parker, an extremely skilled CIA combatant/investigator whose mission in Syria comes to a halt after she receives distressing news about her father.

Working with a visionary director like James Cameron isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. Considering how the filmmaker often pushes his stars to their limits, even the most seasoned actors sometimes fail to withstand the grueling process. But 18-year-old Jessica Alba showcased her acting prowess and commitment to her role when cast in Cameron’s Dark Angel.

Jessica Alba in Dark Angel | image: Fox

Although Jessica Alba reflected on her role as the cyborg Max Guevara in Dark Angel and noted how physically taxing it was, she also mentioned how the role helped her break out of Hollywood stereotypes. Prior to working with James Cameron, the actress admitted to feeling stereotyped for being Latina. However, it was Cameron’s 2000 sci-fi series that saved Alba by changing the trajectory of her career.

Jessica Alba Addressed the Grueling Journey of Making Dark Angel

Famously known for her role in Sin City...

Dark Angel's Jessica Alba shared one condition for reprising her role in a potential reboot, and it would make it a must-watch 22 years later. The sci-fi series, which was ahead of its time, is set in the year 2019 and follows a runaway supersoldier called Max Guevara. Dark Angel mostly garnered positive reviews from critics and audiences, with the pilot episode reaching 17.4 million views. Despite its brief run, it is often remembered as one of the best sci-fi TV shows of the 2000s.

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Alba was asked if she would be open to reprising her role as Max in a Dark Angel reboot. Alba said she would be open to it with the condition that James Cameron would also be involved in the project. Alba and Cameron had worked together on the original show, and thus it makes sense that the actress would want to...

Jessica Alba’s cinematic prowess started in her early teens, but her career escalated when she starred in James Cameron’s Dark Angel. Her portrayal of Max Guevara catapulted her to stardom, making her a top choice for every filmmaker. But her biggest break was just around the corner with Fantastic Four, where she starred as a key member of the superhero team as Sue Storm.

Jessica Alba in a still from Fantastic Four || 20th Century Fox

However, while the movie was a commercial success, not all of her scenes made it to the final cut. One notable deletion was a humiliating sequence with Julian McMahon’s Doctor Doom that, according to some YouTube fans, should have remained in the movie.

What Could Have Been: Alba and McMahon’s Deleted Fantastic Four Sequence

Jessica Alba was the final major cast member to join Fantastic Four in 2005. Her performance as Sue Storm was widely praised,...

Jessica Alba is open to a Dark Angel reboot with James Cameron's involvement. Alba believes the sci-fi drama was ahead of its time. Alba says a reboot could potentially explore AI and technology advancements.

Dark Angel star Jessica Alba shares one condition for a reboot, two decades after the sci-fi show was cancelled. Co-created by Charles H. Elgee and Titanic director James Cameron, Dark Angel debuted on Fox in October 2000. With the story taking place in 2019, the series follows a runaway genetically enhanced supersoldier played by Alba. With a cast that included Michael Weatherly, Alimi Ballard, Jennifer Blanc, John Savage, and Jensen Ackles, among others, the series suffered from low ratings, and an unexpected directing effort from Cameron was not enough to save it.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight to discuss her new movie Trigger Warning, Alba addressed whether she'd ever reprise her breakout television role. The actor,...

Jessica Alba would love to be involved in a Dark Angel reboot. However, the final decision, if a revival ever gets the green light, is not up to her.

"Oh my goodness, would I do Dark Angel again? If [James Cameron] wanted to do Dark Angel, I would do Dark Angel again," Alba told Entertainment Tonight. "Yeah, 'cause he really has been a mentor of mine, and it would just be fun to work with him. We have that history together, and I admire him so much, so I think it would be fun. [Dark Angel] was ahead of its time, for sure. It would be really interesting just to see where Jim and [Charles H. Eglee] would take it knowing what we know now about AI and everything, yeah, and just where technology is. It would be cool to see how... where they would dream."

Related Jessica Alba Says...

Jessica Alba's breakout series, Dark Angel, boosted her profile considerably, leading to roles in major films like Sin City. Dark Angel debuted during a time dominated by female-driven action series like Xena and Buffy, showcasing Alba's depth and toughness. Despite its early cancelation, Dark Angel gained a cult following for its strong female lead and Alba's portrayal of Max.

You can currently see Jessica Alba kicking major butt in Netflix's current number one movie, Trigger Warning, but the actress honed her action training back in 2000 when the sci-fi drama series, Dark Angel, premiered on Fox. Alba had already held down a few roles in TV and film before Dark Angel started, but it can be argued that the series boosted her profile considerably, which resulted in roles in films such as Sin City and Fantastic Four. The series only lasted two seasons, but even with a run as brief as it was,...

Your browser does not support the video tag. Jessica Alba and director Mouly Surya have opened up about their upcoming action thriller, Trigger Warning, which released its official trailer today. Alba expresses her admiration for strong, femal characters like Ripley from the Alien franchise and Sarah Connor of Terminator fame. Surya found it a "little surreal" working with Alba at first, praising the actress' fiery personality and straightforwardness on set.

Its been over 20 years since Jessica Alba first suited up as the genetically enhanced Max Guevara on television's science fiction drama Dark Angel. And while the Golden Globe-nominee admittedly hasnt done a ton of choreographed fight sequences since, the actress is ready for the challenge in her upcoming Netflix project, Trigger Warning. However, the action thriller did test its star's mettle when it comes to pulling off those larger-than-life on-screen brawls. Alba said in an interview with Tudum:

I havent...

Working on the science fiction series Dark Angel brought both Jensen Ackles and Jessica Alba their fair share of success, despite some ups and downs. Fox’s show, which starred Alba as super soldier Max Guevara escaping from government agents in a post-apocalyptic Seattle, was created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee and premiered in 2000.

During the second season, Ackles joined the show as Max’s fellow supersoldier, Alec McDowell (X5-494). The actors engaged in a lot of fighting during Dark Angel’s action sequences, but Ackles maintained that the tension between them was even greater off-screen.

Jessica Alba in Dark Angel

The former Supernatural cast member revealed in 2022 how “horrible” his experience was while working on Dark Angel, saying that the Fantastic Four star “did not make it easy” for him on set.

Dark Angel: Jensen Ackles Revealed Challenges of Working Alongside Jessica Alba

Even though...

Despite only running for two seasons and receiving a decent amount of critical attention, Dark Angel went on to become a cult favorite with a very dedicated fanbase. Blending a unique mix of genres through a character-driven narrative, the action/sci-fi series heavily inspired by a cyberpunk aesthetic amid the Y2K panic was also our generation's official introduction to Jessica Alba. In her breakthrough role as the strong female protagonist, Max Guevara — a genetically enhanced soldier created by Manticore turned escapee trying to expose the organization's corruption, the actress proved she could do it all and was praised by critics for carrying the series. The high-budget pilot, heavily promoted by Fox at the time, reached 17.4 million viewers. But when viewership began to drop, the network put the series through a test with new twists.

Jessica Alba said on a recent episode of HBO Max and CNN’s “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” that she adopted a more masculine persona as a teenager and young adult in Hollywood in order to deliberately avoid being preyed upon by various Hollywood predators. Alba started acting at age 13 and landed her breakthrough role as Max Guevara on Fox’s “Dark Angel” when she was 19 years old. The James Cameron-created series made Alba both a feminist TV icon of the early 2000s and a sex symbol.

“I guess I understood that I needed to help sell the product,” Alba told Wallace when asked if it bothered her how the media objectified her as a sex symbol. “And they sell it how they do so I understood it as a business decision and a strategy. And so I was able to distance myself from it. But I guess,...