Jessica Alba
Jessica Alba at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California (Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage)

It has been nearly 10 years since we saw Jessica Alba on the silver screen. At the peak of her career she fronted Honey and Fantastic Four. In a new interview with Romper’s, the 39-year-old has explained why she stepped away from the lime light for a life in entrepreneurship.

“My motivation was not like, ‘Am I ever going to get hired again?’ Frankly, I was at the top of my career,” Alba told the publication.

“I couldn’t go back to what I was doing before and be authentic,” she admitted. “I just couldn’t. I just didn’t care about it anymore the same way. It was something bigger. I felt like if I was going to, I guess, sort of get this platform, what can I do with it that could be meaningful and make a difference.”

Alba had her first child, Honor, in 2008. Her path was made clear then, with the actress saying, “That reality just felt so real when I became a mom for the first time.”

Influenced by her new-found life in motherhood and her family’s history of chronic illnesses, the actress moved into non-toxic product development for items such as makeup and baby essentials. She founded The Honest Company in 2011.

“I had chronic allergies, and I was hospitalised a lot as a child,” she explained. “I had this real moment of, I want to live, and thrive, and spend as much time with this little person that I’m bringing into the world as possible and stay. 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.”

Alba has since had two more children, Haven, 9, and Hayes, 3. The actress has dabbled in acting in recent years for L.A.’s Finest, Killers Anonymous and upcoming Netflix project, Trigger Warning.