Born on April 28, 1981, in Pomona, California, film actress Jessica Alba comes from a diverse background. Her father is Mexican-American and her mother has Danish and French roots. As the daughter of a member of the U.S. Air Force, she moved around a lot while growing up, living in California, Mississippi, and Texas before settling back in California.
Also in 1994, Jessica Alba landed a role in the popular Nickelodeon youth TV series The Secret World of Alex Mack, which also starred Larisa Oleynik. In the TV series Flipper, Jessica Alba played the role of Maya for the first two series. Before being recruited to the show, Alba was already a certified scuba diver.
Jessica Alba also appeared as Melissa Hauer in an episode of Brooklyn South, as well as landing a role in two episodes of Beverley Hills 90210. She then featured as Layla in Love Boat: The Next Wave. 1999 saw Jessica Alba perform in the Randy Quaid comedy P.U.N.K.S.
She had a role in the dark Oscar-winning drama Leaving Las Vegas, but when her scenes are shelved in the film's final cut, Alba moves to Australia to star in the remake of the short-lived TV series Flipper. She enjoys herself there, telling Entertainment Weekly 10 years later, "I learned how to scuba dive, and I swam with dolphins in the middle of the ocean."
