boy, this took a long time to transcribe, but fun to do :D

Parade
by James Brady

On the night of the first Presidential debate, Jessica Alba -- as the ultracool motorcycle rider Max -- triumphed in Fox's new sci-fi series, Dark Angel

It's unlikely that the glorious young actress Jessica Alba of Fox's new Dark Angel series will ever forget the show's premiere on Tuesday, Oct. 3. The baseball playoffs began that evening on NBC; the first Presidential debate aired on CBS, PBS, and ABC; and Ms. Alba climbed aboard her motorcycle as the leather-clad heroine Max -- messenger by day, cat burglar by night -- and roared off into a TV ratings triumph.

Afterword, in the staid New York Times, the acerbic columnist Maureen Dowd exulted, "Dark Angel had everything the debate did not. Snappy dialogue. Captivating style. Gripping fight scenes. A compelling star, 19 year-old Jessica Alba...I wanted the Dark Angel to hang both those weenies [the candidates] out the window by their ankles."

When I talked with Jessica, I asked if she'd watched her network debut. "Honestly," she said, "that night I was freezing-cold water in British Columbia [they shoot in Vancouver]." And not in a sound stage pool, either. "It was in the ocean and at night." And when she saw the Dowd column? "I was so thrilled, so flattered."

Jessica began acting lessons at 12 and was in the hit movie Never Been Kissed. How did she get to star in Dark Angel, co-created by Titanic's director, James Cameron? "They wanted not a movie star," Jessica said. "So I auditioned and got it." And was she worried about the stunts involved? "No," she said, "That was the deal, I knew from the beginning. I do a lot of crazy things, but if its puts my life in danger, they use a stuntwoman. I do all the motorcycle riding myself, even though I'd never ridden a bike previously. I trained a few months first."

Does she contribute to the character's development? Jessica said that the staff does listen to her: "After all, we have a different director each week, and I know Max better than they do."

Next year, Jessica will appear in a period romance film called The Sleeping Dictionary, shot in Malaysia. She's plays a native translator in love with a Englishman in the 1920's. What was that like? "Tricky," Jessica said. "They dont have the food we have, so for three months you ate oranges and apples in the jungle. Day after day, the same meal." Then Jessica added delicately: "Everyone had trouble digesting their food."

Personal: Born April 28, 1981, in Pomona, Calif.

Films:Include Camp Nowhere, 1994; Venus Rising, 1995; P.U.N.K.S., 1998; Never Been Kissed, 1999; Idle Hands, 1999.

Television:Include The Secret World of Alex Mack, 1994; Flipper, 1995-96; Too Soon for Jeff, 1996; Chicago Hope, 1996-97; Brooklyn South, 1998; Beverly Hills 90210, 1998; Love Boat: The Next Wave, 1998; Dark Angel, 2000.

Born in California and raised in Texas (her dad was a career military man) Jessica is a blend of French-Danish on her mom's side and Mexican, Indian, and Spanish on her dad's. Listen to her rave about her family. "I have a brother, Josh, who's 18, an aspiring actor. He's the most stunning human being. I can be a pill sometimes, and we all used to fight like cats every morning. But when he turned 16, we became best friends. Our parents are young, open-minded and allow us to go with our hearts. I dont even have a home -- I just go from one acting job to the next." Major League baseball is over for the next year, the next President has been elected...[he has?? ;)] and Jessica's show is still going strong. Just like in the battery commercial.