Not a full-nude scene. Jessica Alba is Nancy Callahan in Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller’s Sin City (2005): the stage dance at Kadie’s, studded bra, leather chaps, lasso overhead, neon “COLD BEER” behind her. She was about twenty-three or twenty-four. Official theatrical release. High-contrast noir lighting, crowd silhouettes in front of the stage, the whole

Not a full-nude scene. In Good Luck Chuck (2007) Jessica Alba plays Cam, and the doorway undressing is the moment: jeans halfway down, blue lace panties, grey camisole, that look back over the shoulder. She was about twenty-six. Dane Cook is Chuck. Official comedy studio release. Warm hallway light, Tiffany-style lamp, wrought-iron headboard through the

Robert Rodriguez’s Machete (2010). Jessica Alba plays April, and the shower is the scene everyone remembers. She was about twenty-nine. Official theatrical release. Full nude under the tiled spray, wet hair, arms braced on the wall. It is pure Rodriguez: dark tiles, toiletries on a wire caddy, a little daylight from the blinds outside the

This is the one. Jessica Alba as Joyce Lakeland in Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me (2010), opposite Casey Affleck’s West Texas deputy. She was born 28 April 1981, so she was in her late twenties. Official film. Released. Not a private tape. Joyce is the woman Lou Ford cannot leave alone. The pages below