Jessica Alba reveals why acting wasn’t ‘fun’ when she was younger: ‘I think I didn’t feel worthy’

Despite being one of the most beloved actresses in the world, Jessica Alba had a lot of insecurities throughout her early career.

During an interview on iHeartRadio’s Let’s Be Real with Sammy Jaye podcast last Friday, the 40-year-old said she was “insecure” early on in her career.

“[I was] so wildly insecure about my abilities as an actress. I felt so judged,” Alba told the host. “I was my worst critic. I think I didn‘t feel worthy.”

Since she was so “paralyzed with fear,” the businesswoman said she “never had a real liberating, fun experience” while shooting some of her earlier films.

“I just admired people who just were swaggy on set,” she explained to Jaye. “It felt like they were just in the zone and you could tell when someone is in the zone and when they just feel good.”

Later on, Alba stepped away from acting for a while, which is a decision she’s very happy she made.

“I think taking a break for so long from it and literally having no consequence to whether it works or not, it allows me to have the freedom as a storyteller to just be completely present and try things and I really love it. And it‘s brought me real joy,” said the Honest Company founder.

Alba also revealed that it wasn’t until she was 30 years old that she was able to focus more on the journey and less on the outcome in life.

“I just think all of the outcomes were so disappointing, in Hollywood especially,” Alba said in the interview. “I was like, ‘This is so out of my control! Why?’ You would have a big weather issue and if 80% of the country is frozen, guess who‘s not going to the movie theater that opening weekend?”

“But you’re slotted for that certain opening weekend. … 10 years, someone had spent on this project,” she continued. “You’ve spent at least two years of your life and you think it’s going to turn out some way, and then the country‘s frozen over and no one can leave their house.”

Jessica went on to say: “Does that mean it’s a failure? No. Does that mean, can they take away from your experience creating it and wanting it to be good? No. But I always looked at that final sort of outcome as what it should have been.”