Jessica Alba Brought Her Mexican Heritage Into All Aspects of “Trigger Warning”

It’s been some time since we have seen Jessica Alba main a movie — in 2018, she pivoted to concentrate on her billion-dollar sustainable model The Honest Company, which she stepped down from as chief creative officer in April. But in her newest film, “Trigger Warning,” Alba not solely returns to the display screen; she additionally makes a uncommon look as a Latina lead of an motion flick.

In the film, which was launched on Netflix on June 21, Alba performs Parker, a US particular forces commando stationed abroad who takes a visit again to her hometown after studying her father has died (which she later discovers was attributable to a homicide). The “Dark Angel” and “Sin City” actress, who additionally labored because the movie’s govt producer, says she made positive each element behind her Mexican-American character was as genuine as attainable.

It’s no secret that Latines are main moviegoers and but stay underrepresented on-screen. According to UCLA’s 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report, Latines accounted for less than 5.4 p.c of film leads and 5.7 p.c of actors in any onscreen position that yr. When we dive into particular genres that many Latines take pleasure in — like horror, rom-coms, and motion movies — the illustration is even decrease. But Alba’s return proves how a lot we have to see extra of this.

“I feel a lot of the times when you see women in this genre; we’re either the damsel in distress or we’re the male version of a badass woman — pretty emotionless [with] pretty stoic one-liners, wearing completely impractical clothes in action,” Alba says. “And I just feel like it was so nice to play someone with wild hair who wears vintage [clothes] and cowboy boots, and it just felt very feminine and very human. Like someone who can be your neighbor and your friend.”

The actress, who’s half Mexican, says she took from her personal experiences to carry all these layers and cultural nuances to Parker’s character. Viewers can see it mirrored in all the things from the music—just like the basic folks track “La Llorana” featured within the movie—to the clothes decisions.

“When we were talking about it, I was really like, the music just has to be right. There are certain movies where I feel like our culture is represented, and many where it’s not done right. I was like, I just want this to feel and just have that little bit of flavor so that it feels really right with what’s going on right now,” Alba says. She provides that she made a Pinterest board of the vibe she was going for with Parker’s garments, and the costume designer, Samantha Hawkins, and the director, Molly Surya, helped carry the entire imaginative and prescient to life. “Between the three of us, we really got to shape her and give it that nice kind of grittiness and realness.”

But there was maybe a deeper cause Alba’s efficiency feels so convincing. The film facilities on loss, and if Parker’s grief and devastation appear actual, that is as a result of Alba herself was grieving the loss of one of her personal family members when she was capturing the movie.

“Weirdly, my grandfather passed away around the time that I was shooting the movie, so I was genuinely grieving him, and it was a very cathartic experience to be able to do a lot of that reflecting and grieving alongside Parker,” she says. “A lot of my family photos are actually in the movie, so I really did get to infuse a bit of my family in the movie.”

You can particularly see Alba’s contact as govt producer in a single scene the place Parker finds herself navigating an uncomfortable dialog with an ultra-conservative and racist senator performed by Anthony Michael Hall. He mocks the time period Latinx whereas giving Parker a cross for being a likable Mexican amongst many within the city.

“I don’t know how that scene came to life exactly, but I loved it, and it took on a life of its own with Anthony Michael Hall, and I was sitting in that seat … in like all of Parker’s ancestors’ earrings and clothing because it’s all vintage and lived in,” she says. “And for this ding dong to sit there and try to reduce us and kind of be so disrespectful in an offhand way, it all landed. This thing kind of all clicked with that scene. It was like this is a flavor I had never seen in a movie.”

The movie, which has been positioned as a franchise starter, made Netflix’s No. 1 spot over the weekend — proving that genuine storytelling is resonating with audiences. And whereas Alba isn’t any stranger to motion movies and doing her stunts, “Trigger Warning” really aligns together with her longtime dream of changing into a Latina motion hero.

Johanna Ferreira is the content material director for PS Juntos. With greater than 10 years of expertise, Johanna focuses on how intersectional identities are a central half of Latine tradition. Previously, she spent shut to a few years because the deputy editor at HipLatina, and she or he has freelanced for quite a few shops together with Refinery29, Oprah journal, Allure, InModel, and Well+Good. She has additionally moderated and spoken on quite a few panels on Latine id.