Jessica Alba Loved Her Fantastic Four Role - Except For One 'Humiliating' Scene

In Tim Story's 2005 superhero flick "Fantastic Four," Jessica Alba plays Sue Storm, the soon-to-be wife of Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), and a victim of a cosmic ray bombardment. As any reader of Marvel Comics fan can tell you, Sue went on a journey into space, only to return with eerie superpowers imbued in them by the aforementioned cosmic radiation. Sue found that she could turn invisible, but also manifest invisible walls that were seemingly impermeable. She became better known as The Invisible Woman and took to the streets as one of the Fantastic Four. Story's movie was the first officially released feature film to star the characters. 

One might immediately sense a problem with invisibility superpowers, however. Namely: how does the superhero costume work? How can Sue become invisible with clothes on? Wouldn't she just look like a suit of clothes without a head? The hand-wavey excuse the writers came up with was that her clothes were made of "unstable molecules." Sue could be invisible without having to strip naked, as the molecules in her costume also became invisible. 

Of course, the "not having to get naked" thing was discovered only eventually in Tim Story's film. There was a scene early in "Fantastic Four" where Sue had to turn invisible in the middle of a huge crowd to solve a complex crisis on the Brooklyn Bridge. Sue, not an expert in her powers yet, and not yet dressed in her "unstable" costume, had to strip nude in order not to be seen. Halfway through stripping, however, Sue turns visible again, her underwear visible to dozens of people. 

In a recent interview with Variety, Alba revealed that she loved "Fantastic Four," but really, really hated having to film the underwear scene. Having to strip was embarrassing.

The scene, it should be noted, plays lasciviously. Sue turned invisible, but found her clothes were still visible. Reed encouraged her to strip, which she did, under protest. She didn't realize, however, that she had turned visible right as she was removing her brassiere. Reed only stares at her, ogling, and comments on her physique. Sue scrunches up her body, trying not to be seen, but she is surrounded by a large crowd of New Yorkers who all, likewise, ogle.

Alba was not fond of nude scenes in general, having come from a modest household. Alba knew the scene was coming and wasn't looking forward to it. And lo, when the day came to shoot the scene, it was as uncomfortable as she imagined. Alba said: 

"I thought that was awful. [...] It was very humiliating in real life. I grew up with a pretty conservative family, and I am a pretty modest person. I dreaded that scene for weeks."

Despite the bridge scene, Alba said she actually liked the character of Sue Storm. In Marvel Comics, she's a hardworking mother, a put-upon matriarch who keeps the Fantastic Four together, and is also a superpowered heroine who can save the day as capably as anyone. To that, Alba said: 

"[Sue] was a woman I looked up to. [...] She was very maternal and very kind, but also not a pushover; she spoke her mind. She had a great moral compass. No matter who you are, you can look up to her. Oftentimes, the women in these stories need to be saved by a guy or the villain, the problem in the story. This was back then. It's different now."

Hear, hear.