Jessica Alba On What It’s Like To Be A Sex Symbol When You’re A Virgin

Jessica Alba first posed for Maxim magazine when she was just 19 years old. She had already been in a number of films and television series, and was quickly being deemed a sex symbol. It's a problematic term — one the actress wasn't comfortable with at all. Alba opened up about why the photo shoot was so awkward in her July cover story for InStyle. The actress and Honest Company founder told the magazine that her sexuality made her "very uncomfortable." One reason she was no uneasy posing provocatively? She was still a virgin. “I remember my first Maxim shoot, they were telling me to pose a certain way, and I was like, ‘Agh!'" she said. "I’m 19. I’m a virgin. I don’t even know how to do that.’ It was so awkward.” “I sort of went through a life crisis,” she continued. “I was like, ‘This isn’t what I set out to be. I’m so much more than this, but I don’t know how not to be a sex symbol.” The 35-year-old has certainly expanded her reach since, founding her own billion-dollar beauty, health, and lifestyle brand, The Honest Company. Talk about beauty and brains.