Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba's intense beauty both helped and hindered her career. Graduating from early TV roles on "The Secret World of Alex Mack" (Nickelodeon, 1994-98) and "The New Adventures of Flipper" (syndicated, 1994-2000) to the lead in James Cameron's futuristic sci-fi drama, "Dark Angel" (FOX, 2000-02), Alba enjoyed widespread popularity at first. Once she made the leap to the big screen, however, the actress found herself weathering bad reviews, amped-up attention toward her appearance, and intense negative attention from bloggers, who attacked the multi-ethnic Alba for not embracing the Latina aspect of her heritage as much as they felt she should. Despite the naysayers, Alba continued to work steadily, balancing a series of failures like "Honey" (2003) and "Into the Blue" (2005) with strong work in successes like "Sin City" (2005), the "Fantastic Four" franchise (2005, 2007) and the romantic comedy "Valentine's Day" (2010). Alba's determination to grow and willingness to accept challenging roles in films like the hardboiled noir "The Killer Inside Me" (2010) boded well for her future as she matured into a powerful character actress equally at home in dramas and comedies such as "Little Fockers" (2010) and "A.C.O.D." (2012), as well as her trademark action roles in her ongoing colalborations with director Robert Rodriguez.