After years of being everything from a genetically enhanced "Dark Angel" and a stripper in "Sin City," to a hunted treasure hunter in "Into the Blue" and an invisible superhero in the "Fantastic Four" movies, Jessica Alba says that she's finally ready for love.
And Alba couldn't have picked a better movie to get her creative heart beating than "Valentine's Day," a romantic comedy bursting with one of the biggest ensemble casts in years. Better than that, the movie is under the direction of Garry Marshall, the legendary director whose credits include one of Alba's favorites, "Pretty Woman."
"I love comedy -- it's why I got into the business, really, because I love doing comedy so much," Alba said in a recent @ The Movies interview. "Working on 'Valentine's Day' was fantastic because who does comedy better than Garry Marshall? He's incredible. He's a master of timing. I was happy to be there and tried to absorb as much as possible."
Alba said she loved working with Marshall because he likes to explore the complexities of his characters by giving his actors the freedom to explore.
"He always likes to concentrate on real behavior and wants to get real human interaction in the scenes," Alba said. "So even though you have to hit the beats and it's about the comedy and the timing, he doesn't shy away from letting camera just roll and leave the actors just playing so they can find different little nuances in their characters or funny little moments between each other. He allows you room to breathe in a scene, which is very cool."
Opening in theaters Friday, the film follows the intertwining stories of an eclectic group of Los Angelinos over the course of one Valentine's Day. Alba plays the career-driven Morley -- who says yes to her boyfriend Reed's (Ashton Kutcher) proposal even though she's a bit hesitant about making a big commitment.
In real life, Alba said she had no problem committing to a role opposite Kutcher, even though she was the unknowing subject of one of his "Punk'd" episodes in 2003.
"I've known him for quite a while and I actually think he's super-adorable in this movie," Alba said with a giggle. "Every girl is going to fall in love with him by the end of 'Valentine's Day' because he's just so likable and so sweet."
While the film is set in Los Angeles, Alba said the film isn't polarizing to its audience by any means. After all, she said, romance is romance no matter where it takes place.
"The story could be in Chicago, Miami, New York or anywhere in the world," Alba said. "It's a movie about human relationships that happens to take place in Hollywood and in a business that Garry knows the ins and outs of. But I think what makes this movie so great is that it is so relatable on so many levels. It has every type of a person in its characters that people can relate to."
As for her own personal Valentine's Day experiences over the years, Alba said that they've been for the most part what the day was meant for -- and she's certainly never experienced anything disastrous.
"The past five have been pretty great since I've been with my husband," enthused Alba in reference to Cash Warren. "Before then, I usually worked on Valentine's Day. If I wasn't in a relationship, I wasn't worried about it because I was focused on work, which is a nice distraction."
In addition to Warren, Alba said she's honoring her commitment to the couple's 20-month-old daughter, Honor -- and not just on Valentine's Day.
"I definitely put my career first before I had my daughter -- my focus was definitely on that," Alba said. "But my priorities completely changed when I had her. Family comes first and I'm trying to be a good mom. I'm trying to and making sure our home is safe and healthy, and the best environment for her to flourish."
