Jessica Marie Alba (as she is sometimes credited) was born on April 28th, 1981, in Pomona, California. The aspiring actress relocated with her family (her Spanish/Mexican-American father was in the Air Force) several times before finally settling down in Southern California.

The Alba family moved to Biloxi, Mississippi, then back to California, followed by Del Rio, Texas, and finally back to the West Coast.

Despite constantly moving across the U.S., Alba knew she wanted to be an actress since the age of 5. Her career was ready to take off when an agent signed her, a mere 9 months after a 12-year-old Jessica took an acting class.

Jessica Alba's first film role, in the 1994 film Camp Nowhere, came her way by chance. She was cast with a bit part in the film after one of the characters dropped out of the production. Dark-haired Jessica was cast as the replacement, thanks to the fact that her hair matched that of the original actress.

She then ventured into smaller projects on the small screen, with commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penney, and a recurring role in Nickelodeon's The Secret World of Alex Mack in 1994.

Following her Nickelodeon stint, Jessica, also a PADI-certified scuba diver, was cast as Maya in the 1995 series Flipper. During production of Flipper, Jessica was actually kidnapped after having received telephone threats. Thankfully, she was found unharmed in the trunk of a car.

While working with dolphins on the television series, Jessica was cast in the disastrous film Venus Rising, as well as the 1996 made-for-TV movie Too Soon for Jeff and an episode of Chicago Hope.

1998 was filled with many television show appearances, including a recurring role on the primetime soap Beverly Hills, 90210 (practically a prerequisite for budding young actresses), Brooklyn South and The Love Boat: The Next Wave.

As for film, audiences could catch Jessica in P.U.N.K.S. (aka Rebels), Never Been Kissed, co-starring Drew Barrymore and Idle Hands, co-starring Vivica A. Fox

With Jessica's growing popularity on the Internet after her role in Flipper and her exotic looks (Jessica's ethnic background consists of Danish, French and Mexican), it's no wonder that James Cameron cast her as the lead role in his television series, Dark Angel. These traits of course, are bonuses next to the fact that she can act...

Nicknamed "Sky Angel," Jessica has been featured in Teen Magazine and Vanity Fair, and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 2001, for Best Actress in a Dramatic Television Series.

After a long engagement to her older co-star Michael Weatherly(Logan on Dark Angel) from 2001 to 2003, Alba has been spotted with Mark Wahlberg.

The L'Oreal model (Alba is a Feria hair color spokesperson) returned to the scene with the title role in 2003's Honey. In 2004, she'll add Into the Blue to her filmography.