Hollywood actress Jessica Alba says there have been “lots of different situations” in her career when she had to deal with sexual harassment.
Alba, also a New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur, spoke to CNN for “Talk Asia” here about healthy living and becoming a socially conscious businesswoman. In light of the recent scandal reverberating throughout Hollywood and beyond, Alba also reflects on her own experiences dealing with sexual harassment.
She said: “A lot of different situations, I had to learn quickly how to get myself out of them, so it never got to a place, but sure, I’ve been in lots of different situations.”
A mother of three — two daughters and one son — Alba said she finds it important to talk to her girls about them.
She wants them to know how “you have control over your body and over situations you want to put yourself in, and there’s warning signs and there’s that feeling in your stomach and you have to listen to that feeling, because usually you get that feeling before anything ever happens”.
But she feels “it’s probably going to be different talking to my son about that stuff”.
All in all, Alba says it’s vital for her to teach her children to be kind and to have respect for themselves, for the planet and for animals.
“I want them to be kind, have joy, be appreciative. They have a good life. They have a really good life and I want them to be appreciative, and I also want them to be curious. I think that know-it-alls are the worst, and the second you’re not learning, then what’s the point'”
On female equality and seeing changes in the entertainment industry, Alba said: “Have I seen more women headlining movies, directing movies, writing movies, producing movies than before, and TV’
“I don’t know if there’s been that big of a shift yet, but I think people are at least trying and there’s an awareness around it and how imbalanced it really is. I hope over the next 10 years we see more people, more diversity, certainly, behind the camera and in front of the camera.”
“Talk Asia” will air on Wednesday.
