Jessica Alba existed in “survival mode” during childhood amid her family’s money woes.
The 41-year-old actress said she was dismayed her parents lived “paycheque to paycheque” and slammed the grind as “bulls***” that drove her to ensure her children didn’t experience the same hardship.
She also slated the lack of diversity in Hollywood by branding Marvel “very Caucasian”.
The mum-of-three told the latest issue of Glamour magazine: “I grew up in survival mode. It was almost sort of what I was born into.
“My parents didn’t have a safety net, they were living paycheque to paycheque.
“They were just like, ‘Here’s your life’. And I was like, ‘This is some bulls***. I want a better life than that. I don’t want to be in survival mode all the time’.”
Jessica added there were no expectations for her to do any better and escape financial drudgery.
When she started as a child actor, Jessica faced more hurdles as she was stricken with chronic allergies, pneumonia and partially collapsed lungs.
Jessica, who shares children Honor, 13, Haven, 10, and Hayes, four, with her 43-year-old film producer husband of 14 years Cash Warren, added she was often labelled “exotic” due to her Latin background.
She hit out: “Even if you look at the Marvel movies – that’s the biggest driver of fantasy and what’s happening right now in entertainment, because it’s sort of the family thing – it’s still quite Caucasian.”
Turning to her feminism, the ‘Sin City’ actress added: “Fifty per cent of the population are women, but if 90 per cent of the people in charge don’t look like us, they’re just going to continue to do the same.”
Read her full interview in the GLAMOUR UK July/August Digital Issue online now.
