Jessica Alba officially has it all: looks, fiance, baby bump, Hollywood career. And, in addition to all of the above, she still has time to cook gourmet meals.
“I’ll pull recipes out of [magazines] all of the time,” she says. “I like to try different things. I recently did Cornish game hens with cranberry stuffing and pureed cauliflower. I’m always trying to change it up.”
Alba has adopted a similar attitude when it comes to her movie roles. After starring in a dance flick (“Honey”), an action thriller (“Sin City”), a comic-book adaptation (“Fantastic Four”) and an indie comedy (“The Ten”), Alba is giving the horror genre a go with “The Eye.”
Based on a Japanese shocker of the same name, the film gives Alba the starring role of Sydney, a blind violinist who, at her sister’s urging, opts for a corneal transplant.
In horror films from “The Hands of Orlac” to “Frankenstein,” second-hand body parts almost always spell disaster for their recipients. Sydney’s no different. No sooner does she become sighted than she starts seeing dead people. Figuring out who donated those peepers becomes a high priority.
While Alba, 26, is due to become a first-time mom this summer — she’s engaged to father-to-be Cash Warren — her schedule is busier as ever. Still coming from the actress: “The Love Guru,” a comedy from Mike Myers, and, after that, sequels to “Fantastic Four” and “Sin City.”
From Los Angeles, the Pomona, Calif. native talks about horror movies, maternity clothes, dream roles and why she wants her baby to be a nerd.
Weekender: You’re the focus of “The Eye.” Does this rank as one of the most challenging projects of your career?
Alba: Yes, it was. “Dark Angel” was quite challenging, too, because I really had to carry that series and do everything. For me, “The Eye” was intense because I had to play somebody who was blind and then becomes sighted and then starts to lose her mind a bit and see things that aren’t really there. It was challenging. But that’s why I wanted to do it. I like horror movies, and I’ve wanted to do one for a while. I’ve read many over the years and, to me, this one was interesting because it had a psychological element to it. It was intelligent and complex.
Weekender: Which horror movies are your personal favorites?
Alba: I saw “Nightmare on Elm Street” when I was five. I snuck behind my parent’s couch and watched the entire thing. I didn’t sleep in the middle of my bed all the way up until I was 13. I wouldn’t sleep in the middle of my bed because I thought I was going to be sucked in. I watched “Poltergeist,” too. And I loved it. Anything that’s about demons or ghosts torturing your soul — that stuff is crazy. And I love “Psycho,” “The Birds” and “It.” I’m less of a fan of the super-gory ones.
Weekender: You wore contacts over your corneas for much of “The Eye.” How freaky was that?
Alba: I actually couldn’t see at all. It was weird being on the set, because they didn’t want me walking around and tripping over cables and cameras, so I had to get taken in a wheelchair everywhere.
Weekender: You couldn’t pop the contacts in and out?
Alba: No, because it hurts your eyes if you do that. So, it was a bit claustrophobic. Some days, I had long periods of not being able to see anything. Even having the bloodshot contacts in my eyes impaired my vision. It was pretty trippy.
Weekender: What’s interesting about the movie is that your character is actually better off when she’s blind.
Alba: Exactly. That’s what I wanted to convey. She was totally functioning in the world and quite independent and self-sufficient. She was fine, but society kept telling her that she needed to be like everyone else. She got the surgery primarily [to appease] her sister. Once my character becomes sighted, she became more handicapped than ever before. She sort of fell apart. I liked that reversal.
Weekender: This is a remake of a Japanese horror film. Did you go back and look at the original?
Alba: Yes, and I appreciated Lee Sin-Je’s take on the character. She was stoic and her performance was quiet and still. But she comes from the Eastern way of looking at ghosts, where spirits are a part of the culture. Mysticism is a little more accepted over there. In Western culture, anyone who sees ghosts is considered crazy. So, we approached it from the Western point of view a bit more.
Weekender: Have you ever seen a ghost?
Alba: Nope, I haven’t seen a ghost, but I’m not closed-minded about it. I would never say that ghosts don’t exist. There’s always the possibility.
Weekender: What’s your biggest fear?
Alba: I think probably losing touch with reality, kind of losing my sanity. That’s why the movie was so scary to me, that notion of disconnecting from reality.
Weekender: You shot the movie in Albuquerque. What did you do for fun?
Alba: We went to the director’s house quite a bit, because in Albuquerque, there’s really only one restaurant that’s pretty good, and you can only take Applebee’s and Chili’s so much. Our big day was hanging out at Wal-Mart for five hours. It was like, “Yeah! Wal-Mart!”
Weekender : You’re starring with Mike Myers in “The Love Guru.” Did you get to go wild and crazy in that one?
Alba: No, he gets to be wild. I play more of the straight man. I get to do some fun stuff, but he’s definitely the crazy one. But it was fun to go hang out with Mike and see how his brain works. He’s just a genius and really, really talented.
Weekender: How long until we get to see another “Fantastic Four”?
Alba: I have no idea. I know the writer’s strike, and then the pending actor’s strike, has kind of put a wrench in everything, production-wise. Those films take a lot of prep, a good six months, and then about five months to shoot. I think the strike has put the sequel on hold.
Weekender: Your character in the “Fantastic Four” becomes a mother, too. Are you looking forward to playing a mom onscreen?
Alba: Oh, yeah. [Invisible Girl’s] son is little Franklin. I think that will be hilarious. The kid is so powerful, so I think that’d be a really interesting mother/son dynamic to explore. She’s still a superhero, but she’s super protective. He’s wild and can do anything, but he’s also just a kid so he has no sense of what’s appropriate or not. Sounds like fun to me.
Weekender: Do you have a dream role?
Alba: When I was younger, I was always fascinated with Mata Hari. She was a spy and an exotic dancer who got assassinated. And she was of mixed races. I thought she was pretty cool. But now I don’t know. I’m not sure where I want to go, to be really honest with you. I’m kind of more interested in doing smaller movies, something indie and character-driven.
Weekender: As someone who’s about four months pregnant, what do you hate most about maternity clothes?
Alba: Actually, I’ve been taking what used to be dresses and turning them into shirts. I made my regular skinny jeans into maternity pants. But even my shoes don’t fit. They’re too small. So everything is different. I’m all about cashmere sweaters and leggings at the moment.
Weekender: But you’re not showing at all yet?
Alba: Really? You haven’t seen my tummy. My tummy is huge.
Weekender: What are you most looking forward to about motherhood?
Alba: Seeing this baby. I want it to be here right now. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like until it happens.
Weekender: What are your dreams for your youngster?
Alba: I want my kid to be a nerd. I want him or her to be really, really smart and be in the band — something like that. That is a joke that I have with my fianc�. Our kid can’t be cool. Our kid has to be a nerd. Nerds are so much more dynamic.
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