Jessica Alba had to give off 'masculine energy' to deter Hollywood predators

Fantastic Four's Jessica Alba has described how she gave off a 'masculine energy' in a bid to avoid 'a lot of predators in Hollywood' as she rose to fame in her teenage years.

Alba earned her first acting credit when she was just 13 years old with her appearance in the 1994 film Camp Nowhere, but she soon became well versed in the world of Hollywood as she continued to secure work.

In the early 2000s, Alba was cast in the series Dark Angel as a character called Max; a young woman who goes on the run after receiving a genetic enhancement to become a super-soldier.

Hear Alba describe how she coped at that time below:

Alba was only 19 at the time, and the actor reflected on her role in the show during an appearance on CNN and HBO Max's Who's Talking to Chris Wallace.

She described being seen as a sex symbol in the early 2000s, explaining: "I guess I understood that I needed to help sell the product. And they sell it how they do, so I understood it as a business decision and a strategy."

Alba's view on her role allowed her to 'distance herself' from her sex symbol status, but she continued: "But I guess, you know, you can't change other people's minds about what they may or may not think of you.

"I don't think that there's anything wrong with owning your sexuality. I just frankly was definitely not that person. I was very nervous about all of that, and I was quite uncomfortable in my own skin."

Now a 41-year-old mum of three, Alba admitted that it wasn't until she brought children into the world that she 'really started to even see [herself] as a woman or a sexual being or someone who owned her power and her femininity'.

@jessicaalba/Instagram

During the earlier stages of her career, without the knowledge that she has now, she put up a front to help cope with the attention she was getting.

"At that time, I felt like I was very much having to put up this armor of masculinity and masculine energy so I wouldn't, you know, be preyed on because there were a lot of predators in Hollywood from age 12 to 26," she said.

As part of this front, Alba said she swore a lot and tried make herself unavailable to anyone with questionable intentions, describing herself as a 'warrior'.

"I put up that energy. I was really tough, man," she said. "I curse like a sailor and I think I tried to make myself as unavailable as possible so that I wouldn't be taken advantage of."

Almost three decades on from Camp Nowhere, Alba has appeared in both movies and TV shows including Beverly Hills, 90210, Never Been Kissed and Fantastic Four.