Jensen Ackles Holds Nothing Back When Discussing Jessica Alba's On-Set Behavior
While Jessica Alba isn't currently booking work in blockbusters with any sort of regularity, just a decade or two ago, big Hollywood movies were her bread and butter. Alba appeared in a wide range of projects during her heyday, from Robert Rodriguez's gory comic book film "Sin City" to Drew Barrymore romantic comedy "Never Been Kissed." Before all that, though, Alba's breakthrough role, at just 18 years-old, was as the lead in a James Cameron-created sci-fi TV series called "Dark Angel" (via IMDb). It was on the set of "Dark Angel," even, that Alba began a relationship with her then 30 year-old co-star Michael Weatherly, referenced in an episode of Weatherly's other popular series "NCIS" released around that time.
During its second season, "Dark Angel" introduced a character portrayed by Jensen Ackles, who at the time was another young, up-and-comer. Nowadays, Ackles is arguably best-known for starring in "Supernatural" for 15 seasons, before the series came to an end in 2020.
In an appearance on the podcast Inside of You released on January 18, Ackles spoke about what it was like to work with Alba on the set of "Dark Angel." As it turns out, Ackles and Alba had something of a contentious working relationship with one another.
Jensen Ackles and Jessica Alba verbally sparred on the set of Dark Angel
In conjunction its Jensen Ackles episode's release, the Inside of You podcast posted a 40-second summary of Ackles outlining his issues with Jessica Alba on the set of "Dark Angel" to Tik Tok. The clip was liked more than 80 thousand times. In it, podcast host Michael Rosenbaum asks Ackles if Alba was "cool to work with." He responds, "No. She was horrible," explaining that one day Alba described him, in front of the show's crew, as a "pretty boy that the network brought in for some more window dressing." Ackles retorted, "Looks like we're getting b**** Alba today," which he claims the crew "loved."
Later on in his podcast appearance and not featured in the widely-viewed Tik Tok, Ackles explained that he and Alba supported one another in spite of this and other spats, which he claimed built mutual respect.
"I love Jess, which I know kind of contradicts what I just said," Ackles added. "She was under an immense amount of pressure on that show. She was young, she was in a relationship, and that was rocky and causing some undue stress." Their bond was strong enough, in fact, that Alba notably comforted Ackles on-set one day after he found out about the death of his grandfather. So, while Alba may have been "horrible" to work with, she and Ackles seem to have become friends with each other regardless.