Jessica Alba on being a sex symbol while still a virgin
JESSICA Alba was 19 when she shot the Maxim cover that turned her into a sex symbol. But the most ‘uncomfortable’ part was she was still a virgin.
Books & Magazines
Don't miss out on the headlines from Books & Magazines. Followed categories will be added to My News.
JESSICA Alba was uncomfortable shooting her first sexy men’s magazine spread — because she was still a virgin.
The actress, now 35, was only 19 when her sex symbol status landed her a coveted spot in Maxim, but Alba admits she wasn’t prepared for the revealing shoot.
“My sexuality made me very uncomfortable,” the Sin City star told In Style magazine.
“I remember my first Maxim shoot. They (photographers) were telling me to pose a certain way, and I was like, ‘Agh! I’m 19. I’m a virgin. I don’t even know how to do that!’ It was so awkward.”
And things didn’t get much better for the actress, who considered life as a nun growing up.
“I sort of went through a life crisis,” she adds. “I was like, ‘This isn’t what I set out to be. I’m so much more than this, but I don’t know how not to be a sex symbol’.”
But, sex symbol or not, there’s one thing Alba has always promised herself she would never do — strip for a movie role. Several years ago she revealed her Catholic faith is too strong for her to bare all for the camera, stating, “I will never do a nude scene in a movie — not ever. I can act sexy and I can wear sexy clothes but I can’t go naked.
“I come from a Catholic family and it wasn’t seen as good to flaunt yourself. I can handle being sexy with clothes on but not with them off.”
She stuck to her guns for a steamy shower scene in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete. She wore a bra and panties, which were digitally removed in the final print.
Originally published as Jessica Alba on being a sex symbol while still a virgin