Somehow, the bar at Los Angeles' St Regis hotel isn't the first place you'd expect to meet Jessica Alba, star of Sky One's fast-becoming-cult sci-fi series Dark Angel. Maybe it's the fact that, at the age of 19, Alba isn't old enough to knock back anything harder than her camomile tea. Or perhaps it's just that this swanky bar, with its unslouchy high-backed chairs and $175 cognacs, lacks the grungey post-apocalyptic moodiness in which Alba, as Dark Angel's brooding, genetically souped-up heroine Max, looks so at home. Put it this way: ask Max to shell out 17 bucks for a shrimp cocktail and you'd probably be answered with a boot in the teeth.

Jessica set her clock-radio for 5am today in Vancouver, Canada, where the show's hot, and caught an early flight to LA for a photo shoot. Now, 14 hours and countless pouty poses later, she's huddled in a Nike hoodie and clearly wiped out.

Max may be the relentless one-woman weapons system, but the lady who plays her is a mere mortal, and the continuous care and feeding of the publicity monster is taking its toll. "In the past four months I've done 23 photo-shoots, plus I work full-time." she shrugs. Despite being linked with co-star Michael Weatherly (who plays the wheelchair bound subversive Logan Cale) she declares she has no time for a love life "I'm kind of all over this".

The show itself sure ain't over. A number of gloomy, paranoiac sci-fi series have come and gone since The X-Files marked the spot seven years ago. But Dark Angel - which chronicles the crusade of bar-coded bike messenger Max against evil - has two factors in its favour.

The first is the stamp of creator James Cameron, blockbuster director extraordinaire (Titanic, Aliens, the Terminator movies) - Dark Angel is the self-styled King Of The World's first TV venture. The second is Jessica, whose appeal is easy to spot to anyone with working eyeballs.

Her character was created by a sinister secret military programme, but it could just as well have been a savvy Hollywood marketing department. Like Buffy or Charlie's Angels, motorcycle mama Max blends action-hero chops with sex-kitten appeal in one potent package.

"Creating a strong female character is a no-lose deal," says Cameron, who along with Alba, insists he has never seen Buffy. "Women like it more, and it certainly doesn't hurt the male audience. I've definitely found that with my films."

The virtually unknown Jessica faced stiff competition for Dark Angel's coveted lead, with 1,000 hopefuls vying for it. She insists she was never fazed by Cameron's ball-breaker reputation, "Everyone tried to freak me out before I met Jim," she says. "You know, 'This is the big time, he's a hard taskmaster, yada, yada, yada.' And I'm like, 'He's just a human being."

It was this self assurance that snagged Cameron. Then again, it didn't hurt that, with her down-pillow lips and almond shaped eyes, Alba looks like someone fabricated out of human genes' greatest hits.

Jessica was raised mainly in suburban Southern California and is the product of a Mexican-American father and a French-Canadian mother of Danish descent. "I feel like I'd be lying if I said I am Latino," she says. "I think I just represent America."

It's hard to imagine now but Jessica's combination of exotic looks and no bullshit attitude (in fifth grade, she says, she punched a kid in the face because "he touched my butt") led to trouble landing jobs when she was younger. She was often deemed "too ethnic" for adverts "plus I wasn't cheery enough. I couldn't do that sort of 'Trident tastes great!' stuff. I was like why should I be smiling all the time?" Her first breakthrough came aged 12 with a small movie role followed by a stint on TV show Flipper, appearances on Beverly Hills 90210 then movies Idle Hands and Drew Barrymore's Never Been Kissed.

Despite her success while still in her teens, Jessica's not believing the hype. "Anyone can be famous," she says. "It's just a matter of whether you believe what they tell you." Cameron agrees: "I think it's a healthy place for Jessica to be. TV's very competitive. She's got to keep her nose to the grindstone."

No sooner has Jessica finished shrugging off the tantalising charms of stardom than a hotel employee appears at the table. "Sorry to bother you," she tells the actress,"but your spa appointment has changed from 8:30 to 8." Jessica smiles sheepishly, like a die hard vegan caught chomping into a Big Mac. "My producer gave me massage sessions to celebrate Dark Angel getting commissioned for nine more episodes," she tries to explain. There's no need to apologise. After all, she's only human.