When Fantastic Four was released in 2005, the world was a very different place. In superhero movies, women were mostly relegated to being love interests or, even when they were heroes themselves, eye candy.
Jessica Alba wasn't given the best material to work with in Fantastic Four or Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (both of which were helmed by Tim Story). There were scenes in both movies where the actress lost her clothes, and none of them were exactly essential to the story.
Appearing at the Red Sea Film Festival on Friday (via Variety), Alba reflected on her nude scene on the Brooklyn Bridge in Fantastic Four, describing it as "humiliating" and her "least favourite scene" as Sue Storm.
"I thought that was awful," she said. "It was very humiliating in real life. I grew up with a pretty conservative family, and I am a pretty modest person. I dreaded that scene for weeks. I have a lot of whiplash from those days."
Despite that, Alba looks back at the character fondly. "She was a woman I looked up to. She was very maternal and very kind, but also not a pushover; she spoke her mind. She had a great moral compass. No matter who you are, you can look up to her. Oftentimes, the women in these stories need to be saved by a guy or the villain, the problem in the story. This was back then. It’s different now."
We've seen just how different things are today thanks to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, where Vanessa Kirby played a version of the Invisible Woman with far more agency.
Alba, however, hasn't seen the Marvel Studios reboot yet. "I usually watch those movies with my kids, and if 'Sonic' was out, my son wants to watch it 85 times in a row. When it comes to movies that are for the family, my kids dominate what we watch for sure. But I have to convince him because we have to see it! I love Marvel, and they’re so fun."
The hope is that Alba might get one final chance to play Sue in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, but for now, she plans to reunite with Sin City director Robert Rodríguez on a "really fun action movie, like a family dramedy inside a heist movie." She added that the project will feature an all-Latino cast.
As always, let us know your thoughts on Alba's Fantastic Four comments in the usual place.