Jessica Alba was "driven" to succeed by feeling under represented.

Jessica Alba for InStyle magazine

Jessica Alba for InStyle magazine

The 'Sin City: A Dame to Kill For' star decided to go into acting because she wanted to banish the stereotypes faced by women from Latina heritage.

She told the July issue of InStyle magazine: "What drove me was that I felt like I wasn't represented. There were a lot of girls out there who looked like me and weren't represented in pop culture, you know? ... When I started, I was labeled 'exotic.' That was it. It was like you had to be mysterious and sexual. Back in the day, if you were Latina, it was always a stereotype."

And whilst the 37-year-old actress - who has Honor, nine, Haven, six, and Hayes, four months, with her husband Cash Warren - loves to work hard, she recently admitted she is "missing moments" with her children because she's always working.

She said: "I think feeling like you're missing moments, like, well first off, you feel bad when you realise they are wearing shoes that hurt them because you're like, 'Oh, I didn't even realise that you've been wearing shoes that are too small for you for like 3 - 4 months, my bad.' Some of those milestones or moments, you want to be there for every single one and it's not realistic when you're working, but for me, that's what gets me. Even the everyday little things like picking them up from school are a big deal, so I drop them off at school most mornings and try to get home for bedtime. But the weekends is really when I get to spend the time with them."


Tagged in