Jessica Alba Revealed That She Had To Protect Herself From Being "Taken Advantage Of" As A Younger Woman

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You know Jessica Alba.

Jessica poses for photographers at a red carpet event with her hand on her hip. She's wearing a strapless dress with matching clutch purse and a bejeweled necklace
Lionel Hahn / Getty Images

Jessica has been acting for a long time. When she appeared in Never Been Kissed, she was only 18 — and when she made her film debut in Camp Nowhere, she was 13 years old.

Jessica as a high school student stand with a group of other students in a scene from Never Been Kissed
20th Century Fox / courtesy Everett Collection

During a recent interview with CNN's Chris Wallace, Jessica said she felt sexualized by Hollywood at an early age — and that she had to protect herself from the industry's "predators" as well.

Jessica standing against a neutral backdrop for a photo at an event
Swan Gallet / WWD via Getty Images

“I understood that I needed to help sell the product, and they sell it how they do," she said while talking about how her image was presented by the media. "So I understood it as a business decision and as a strategy.”

  Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection
Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

Jessica went on to clarify that there's "nothing wrong" with expressing one's sexuality, while also stating that "at that time, I definitely was not that person."

  Fine Line Features / courtesy Everett Collection
Fine Line Features / courtesy Everett Collection

"I was very nervous about all of that, and I was quite uncomfortable in my own skin.”

Jessica dancing in a scene from her film Honey
Universal / courtesy Everett Collection

Jessica added that it wasn't until she became a parent that she began to "even see myself as a woman or a sexual being, or someone who owned her power and her femininity.”

Alba shares three children with her husband, Cash Warren, whom she married in 2008.

Alba shares three children with her husband, Cash Warren, whom she married in 2008.

Jeremy Moeller / Getty Images

She also said there were a lot of "predators" in Hollywood from when she was 12 years old until she was 26 — which was when she became pregnant with her first child, Honor.

  Dimension Films / courtesy Everett Collection
Dimension Films / courtesy Everett Collection

Jessica said she "cursed like a sailor" and acted like a "warrior" to ensure that people would leave her alone. “At that time, I felt like I was very much having to put up this armor of masculine and masculine energy, so I wouldn’t be preyed on," she explained.

Jessica in a fight stance in a scene from the movie Fantastic Four
20th Century Fox / courtesy Everett Collection

“I think I tried to make myself as unavailable as possible so that I wouldn’t be taken advantage of.”

  Antoine Flament / Getty Images
Antoine Flament / Getty Images

Watch the interview clip here.