Jessica Alba: this is why I decided to step away from acting

When she had her first child, Honor, in 2008, she’d had her breakout role in James Cameron’s sci-fi action TV series, Dark Angel, and then followed it up with hit movies such as Honey, The Fantastic Four and Sin City.

But Jessica Alba (39) says everything changed when her daughter came along and she no longer cared about fame or her acting career in the same way.

“There was something bigger. I felt like if I was going to get this platform [of fame], what could I do with it that could be meaningful and make a difference? That reality just felt so real when I became a mom for the first time,” she says.

She also found herself recalling her childhood and her mother’s health issues.

“My mother had cancer at a really young age, in her early 20s. I had chronic allergies, and I was hospitalised a lot as a child,” she says.

“I had this real moment of, ‘I want to live and thrive and spend as much time with this little person that I've brought into the world. So, my health matters. I want this little person to be healthy. And it's really freaking hard to be happy when you don't have your health’."

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In 2011 she went into the health products business and founded the Honest Company, a multi-million dollar business that sells eco-friendly makeup and baby product.

She founded the company so consumers “shouldn’t have to choose between what works and what’s good for you”.

In 2011 Jessica went into the health products business and founded the Honest Company, a multi-million dollar business that sells eco-friendly makeup and baby product. (Photo: Getty Images/Gallo Images)

Jessica and her husband, film producer Cash Warren (42), went on to have two more kids, Haven (now 9) and Hayes (now 3). And like parents everywhere, she’s found lockdown challenging.

“It’s pretty Goundhog Day,” she told E! recently, adding she makes sure to take time for herself too.

“Once a week I try to take a bath,” she said. “I'll put the baby – I still call him a baby – in a little mini bathtub next to mine because that kid loves to pee in the bath. Then he has his toys. I can be in my bath, and he's in his, and put my face mask on and just kind of sit there.”

Jessica and her husband, film producer Cash Warren tied the knot in 2011 and have three children together. (Photo: Getty Images/Gallo Images)

Jessica urges moms to not be too hard on themselves, “Don’t get overwhelmed trying to do everything at once. Lay out what you can get done now and what will take longer.”