At first glance, Jessica Alba lives up to assumptions: beautiful, tall, glamorous and aloof. But within a few minutes, the sex symbol turns on the charm, shedding the ice-princess aura for something friendlier and more engaging. She offers restaurant recommendations, asks questions about hometowns and reminisces about the days before texting and bloggers.
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The mood switch can't be easy, considering she has been on a two-day press junket for her new Robert Rodriguez flick, Machete, in theaters Friday. But the transition is seamless, which is a testament to her admiration for the filmmaker, who also directed Alba, 29, in Sin City and the upcoming Spy Kids 4.
"He's so inspiring," she says. "He's a renegade. He shows that you can have a functioning system that appeals to the same audience, and it's just as relevant in pop culture, and it doesn't have to cost what the traditional studio movies cost. Machete was a true independent film. It was gritty, it was low-budget, but you don't see that. The quality of his films (equals that of) $100 million movies."
Ready to try new things
Alba, too, is ready to do things her way. She concedes that her career, while lucrative, hasn't always been fulfilling.
"I have made, since I've had my daughter (Honor Marie Warren, 2), a concerted effort to concentrate on the filmmaker, first and foremost, and the role and the story," she says. "Before, my priority was very business-driven and business-oriented, and now it's about evolving as an actor more than anything.
"Working with a filmmaker that you believe in and that can push you, for me, was what I wanted to focus most on. And, it's like, if I'm not going to spend time with my daughter, it has to be worth it."
Apparently, Machete was well worth the time: It marks not only another chance to collaborate with Rodriguez but is also the half-Mexican Alba's first Latina role.
She describes her immigration and customs enforcement officer character as "an intelligent, fierce, independent woman," which made the role that much more appealing.
"For me, I never wanted to reinforce any stereotypes about Latin women, and that was why I've shied away from Latin characters I've been offered. Most of them reinforced the stigmas. The women whom I grew up with are intelligent, strong women, and unless I read a woman being portrayed that way in a film, I didn't want to play it.
"There's enough people that will reinforce those stereotypes, and I didn't need to participate in that. This woman is just as fierce as the men, and so I'm proud to bring that to life and put that imagery in people's heads."
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SOURCE: USA Today - Arienne Thompson
