''The Eye'' came along at the perfect time for Jessica Alba – she'd only recently decided she wanted to spice up her filmography with a horror movie, as CLINT MORRIS & SILAS LESNICK discovered.
As a youngster, Jessica loved renting scary movies with her friends - and then ultimately hiding behind a pillow for the duration of the film. “I'm less of a fan of the super-gorey [stuff”], she says, but says she made an exception for Freddy Krueger. ''I saw Nightmare on Elm Street when I was five. I snuck behind my parents’ couch and I watched the entire thing. I didn’t sleep in the middle of my bed forever.... All the way up until I was about 13, I wouldn’t sleep in the middle of my bed because I was afraid I would get sucked down. I'd watch anything about demons or ghosts or something that is torturing your soul but that no one else can see”.
Ironically, Alba's now playing a blind woman whose being tortured by something “no one else can see” in the David Moreau and Xavier Palud directed ''The Eye''.
In the movie, a remake of a Korean film, Alba plays a cornea transplant recipient who sees disturbing images in the mirror that send her on a quest to find out what happened to the eye's previous owner
“I like horror movies and wanted to do one for quite a while. I’ve read many over the years and, to me, this one was – the psychological thriller aspect of it, I felt – was intelligent and complex.
The actress, who hit the big time playing a futuristic rebel on TVs ''Dark Angel'', says it was no easy feat pretending to be vision impaired. She was fitted with 'blurry' contact lenses so she really couldn't tell what was going on in front of her – and it was truly frightening.
''I couldn’t see at all”, says the actress, who replaced Renee Zellweger for the film. “I had to be, especially on the set because they didn’t want me w
alking around, be taken around in a wheelchair. There’s cables and plywood and cameras and everything.
“It wasn’t everyday but some days it was long periods of time of not being able to see. I was relieved to get my sight back when I got it. Even having just the bloodshot contacts in impairs your sight a bit. They hurt your eyes if you keep taking them out. You have to let them sit in there for awhile.”
In the film, Alba's character eventually does regain some of her sight – some, being the optimum word.
“It's intense having to play somebody who is blind and become sighted. She starts to lose her mind a bit. See things that aren’t there. It was quite challenging which is definitely why I wanted to do it.”
“Because I’m so used to seeing” it was definitely a hard part to play, says the actress. “Like, in this room instead of looking at anyone’s face, I would focus on the table because that’s the one thing that stands out. The white of the table. And then maybe the color of [different] shirts. You kind of pick up on things differently.”
Having said that, Alba has learned that being blind doesn't necessarily mean you have to stop living your life.
''Just because you’re blind and you have this handicap, it doesn’t really need to impede anything in your life except for really driving”.
Alba talked extensively to a blind woman and was absolutely fascinated by her.
“She travels by herself. She takes subways and taxis and goes to Europe. She was walking on the wrong side of the road in England, crossing the street. There are people who are sighted who still can’t really figure that out. She’s blind doing that. I thought it was incredible how she gets around. Most cities aren’t really equipped with Braille so she has to rely on other people to tell her if it’s a women’s room or a men’s room or what’s on a menu. When she goes shopping, she has to trust that the sales clerk is telling her the right colors so she can label everything properly.''
In the film, Alba's sister is the one that pushes her into having surgery to repair her eyesight – but the blind woman is quite happy not seeing; something Alba says she totally understands.
''I wanted it to be something not that she had to cope with but something that was just part of who she was and she was fine with it and totally functioning within the world and totally independent and self-sufficient. She had a regular job. It’s not like she had a job that was for someone with special needs or anything. She was totally fine. It’s kind of society that tells you that you have to be like everyone else. There’s a reason she did it, primarily her sister but it was when she got her sight that she became more handicapped than ever. She sort of fell apart. I liked that. That role reversal and mortality.''
One of the most intriguing scenes in the movie has Alba's character cradling an imaginary woman.
''That was tough. I did the scene with her in my arms and I think they weren’t sure how much they wanted to show of me and her together and me by myself. I did the scene with her in my arms and then did it without. So yeah, that was pretty tough. Plus, it was pretty horrific seeing someone hanging. That was so hard.''
Lets remember though, ''The Eye'' is a horror movie – not a drama intended for Oscar Glory – and thus it entailed a lot more work than merely delivering lines in the dark.
There was “A lot of running”, Alba, who recently starred in the comedy ''Good Luck Chuck'', laughs. “Running at the end was quite tough. It was below freezing when we were shooting. It was below zero for sure. I think it was like negative two. It was so cold and I just had that little jacket on. So that was tough. And we were shooting nights for about two weeks.”
From ''The Eye'', Alba went straight onto ''The Love Guru'', a new comedy starring Mike – where's he been?! - Myers.
''It was night and day. It couldn’t be more different. Hanging out with Mike and seeing how his brain works. He’s a genius. He’s really, really talented.''
She's now done the horror movie she's always wanted to do – what role would she like to conquer next?
''I don’t know because it changes depending on what age I am”, says Alba. I''t gets more appropriate to fill different shoes. I used to be fascinated with Mata Hari. She’s like a spy and exotic dancer. She got assassinated. I thought she was pretty cool. She was mixed race. Now, I don’t know. I don’t know where I want to go. To be honest, I’m kind of more interested in smaller movies. Indie, character-driven ensemble pieces.''
Meantime, Alba is looking forward to becoming a first-time mother.
''I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like until it happens”, she says. “Of course there are horror stories but none of them really end in “I would never do that again”. It ends in “it was the best thing that ever happened to me”. No matter what, it’s the greatest gift anyone has ever had in their life. Anything can happen. I just try to keep a very positive attitude. Hopefully, my baby can feel that energy.”.
And would she encourage her son or daughter to take up acting?
''I want my kid to be a nerd. I want him to be really, really smart. I want them to be in the band or orchestra. No, that’s a joke. I keep telling my fiancée, “Our kid can’t be cool. It has to be a nerd.” They’re so much more dynamic. If your child wants to be an actor, though, you kind of want to support them in whatever they want to do. But it’s not something I’m going to be pushing my kid to do at all. I think it’s important for your kids to find their own way and see what moves them''.
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