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Becoming a happily married mum has shifted Jessica Alba's plans for global domination. Paul Byrne talks to the actress for http://www.movies.ie

In Hollywood, it's generally accepted that, when a female star is having trouble with her career, it's time to go away and have a baby. There's nothing more the general public love that seeing a caring, sharing mother doting over their little bundle of joy. Whatever doubts may have wormed their way into Joe and Joanna Sixpack's mind about said star should, most likely, vanish in a puff of baby talcum powder and a full photospread in OK! magazine. And the star gets another shot at being box-office once again.

Doesn't always work, of course. Look at Halle Berry. Jennifer Lopez. Sharon Stone. And so many, many other brave women who turned to mother nature, looking for a little career help, only to find themselves left holding the baby. Literally.

In the case of Jessica Alba though, you get the impression that her mother's love is real. Even if her career was a little shakey when she went into the delivery room.
Having first come to our attention ten years ago in the rather fine sci-fi action series Dark Angel - the only TV project produced by the mighty James Cameron - Alba struggled through some pretty poor movies before hitting the no.1 spot as Susan Storm in 2005's Fantastic Four.
The young Californian hit the top spot once again with the comic book heroes' second big-screen outing in 2007. The fact that both movies sucked didn't seem to bother the cinema-going public all that much. The fact that pretty much every other movie Jessica Alba was signing up for also sucked did seem to bother them though, outings such as Good Luck Chuck, Bill, Awake (all 2007), The Eye and The Love Guru (both 2008) all bombing at the box-office.

By the time those last two little gems were being ignored all around the world, Alba was getting hitched, to Cash Warren, a director's assistant on the first Fantastic Four outing, and the couple welcomed Honor Marie Warren, 18 days later, on June 7th, 2008. The first pics of Honor Marie appeared in OK! Magazine. For a reported $1.5m. Hmm.

Alba is stepping back into the limelight this year though, after a quiet 2009 that saw her just take on one gig - a one-episode cameo in the US version of The Office. With Sundance fave The Killer Inside Me due out later this year, alongside a Meet The Fockers sequel, Alba this month takes her first steps back onto the big screen with Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day, an ensemble romantic comedy that's pretty much Love, Actually with all the spit and grit taken out.

Alba plays Morley, woken up at the start of the movie by her boyfriend, flower shop owner Reed (Ashton Kutcher), holding a ring. By the end of the day, the ring, and Morley, are gone. In a movie full of meet-cute moments, Alba actually does get a little grit to play with.

When I met her at the Beverly Hilton in LA, Alba looked notably thin, but healthy and happy.
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