Jessica Alba made history by playing a pre-MCU version of the famous Marvel superhero Sue Storm in Fantastic Four. Her character was important not only for her invisibility and force field, but also for being the heart of the team. But despite her time as Sue Storm being a positive one, Alba gets real about having “dreaded” the scene where the heroine had to strip down.
At the Red Sea Film Festival (via Variety), Jessica Alba said the best part about being in the Fantastic Four movies was being a female role model in the superhero genre. However, the American actress got real about one scene she “dreaded for weeks” from the superhero flick that involved stripping down:
I thought that was awful. 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.
The scene Alba’s referring to is when Sue Storm wants to be part of a bridge rescue mission, but her powers of invisibility don’t work on her clothes. So, she’s forced to take them off, only for her powers to make her very visible for a bit when she’s in her bra and underwear.
I completely feel for the Honey actress. Not everyone is comfortable having to take their clothes off on-screen for the whole world to see. Especially when you’re thinking about your family the entire time. While that Fantastic Four scene was clearly meant to be there for comedic effect, it’s not always funny for the actress who has to take part in it.
In the past, Jessica Alba has spoken about her struggles of being seen as a sex symbol early in her career. This Hollywood label forced upon her entailed being on the sexy covers of magazines to satisfy the male audience.
On the other hand, the Good Luck Chuck actress found ways to control the narrative with a surge of female empowerment to make it happen. Alba said she would make sure that for each men’s magazine she had to pose for, she would also do three to four women’s magazines too. The Little Fockers actress also made sure to have her sex scenes removed from Machete due to being uncomfortable with them. At the end of the day, no one can make you do something that makes you uneasy.
It’s completely relatable to dread “for weeks” a scene where you’re required to strip down if it’s not something you’re comfortable with. However, Jessica Alba went through it like a champ, delivering an overall truly powerful portrayal as The Invisible Woman. Feel free to revisit Alba as Sue Storm in the Fantastic Four movies streaming on your Disney+ subscription.
