Honestly, if you grew up in the mid-2000s, you probably remember the sheer hype surrounding Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It was 2007. Superhero movies hadn't yet become the all-consuming cinematic universe behemoths they are today. Back then, we were just happy to see a silver guy on a surfboard flying through skyscrapers.
But for Jessica Alba, the experience was anything but "fantastic."
While fans were debating whether the Silver Surfer's CGI held up (it actually did, thanks to Doug Jones's physical performance), Alba was dealing with a directorial style that almost made her quit Hollywood for good. It’s one of those "behind the scenes" stories that feels wilder than the actual plot of the movie.
The "Cry Prettier" Incident That Changed Everything
You might remember the climax. It's high stakes. Sue Storm is dying in Reed Richards' arms. It’s supposed to be the emotional heart of the film.
Jessica Alba, who had spent years proving herself in Dark Angel and Sin City, went all in. She brought the snot, the ugly-crying, the raw instinct. But director Tim Story wasn't having it.
He reportedly told her, "It looks too real. It looks too painful. Can you be prettier when you cry? Cry pretty, Jessica."
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That’s a gut punch for any actor. Basically, the message was: your acting doesn't matter as much as your face looking like a postcard. Story even told her not to "do that thing" with her face and suggested they would just CGI the tears in later. Imagine being told your actual human emotions aren't "aesthetic" enough for a PG-rated blockbuster.
Alba later told Elle magazine that this specific moment made her question her worth as a person and an artist. She felt like a prop. It’s no wonder she started pivoting toward building The Honest Company shortly after.
The Visuals: Contacts, Wigs, and Logic Gaps
If you rewatch the movie today, something feels... off.
In the first 2005 film, Alba's look was relatively natural. But by the time Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer rolled around, the production went overboard. They put her in these piercing, almost neon-blue contact lenses that looked like they were glowing. Then there was the wig.
Because the bleaching process for the first film had reportedly fried her hair, she opted for a blonde wig in the sequel. It didn't quite sit right. Fans on Reddit still roast the "cosplay" look of Sue Storm in this era. It’s a classic example of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," but the studio was obsessed with a very specific, hyper-stylized 2007 version of "beauty."
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Was the Movie Actually That Bad?
Look, people love to hate on this era of Marvel, but there’s a lot to like if you look past the "Galactus is a cloud" controversy.
- The Chemistry: The core four—Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, and Michael Chiklis—actually felt like a family. Evans, as Johnny Storm, was perfectly cast before he became the world's most stoic Captain America.
- The Silver Surfer: Doug Jones brought incredible grace to the character. Even with Laurence Fishburne’s voice dubbed over, the physical movement of the Surfer was top-tier for 2007.
- The Pacing: It’s 92 minutes. Remember movies that were 92 minutes? It’s a breezy, fun ride that doesn't require you to watch six Disney+ shows to understand.
But the script was thin. It spent way too much time on Reed and Sue’s wedding jitters and not enough on the cosmic dread of a planet-eater. By the time the Silver Surfer shows up to warn Earth, we’ve spent half the movie watching Johnny Storm try to monetize the team's fame.
The Legacy of Sue Storm
Alba’s Sue Storm was often written as a "mother figure" who had to keep the boys in line, or she was the "eye candy" caught in embarrassing situations—like the recurring gag of her losing her clothes because of her powers.
Despite the "cry pretty" direction, Alba tried to give Sue agency. In the sequel, she's the one who first connects with the Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd). She sees his humanity. That’s a key part of the comics that actually made it onto the screen.
Still, the industry wasn't ready to let a female superhero just be. She had to be a "baddie" first and a character second.
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What to Keep in Mind
If you’re revisiting the film or watching it for the first time, keep an eye on these specific details:
- The Shanghai Battle: The sequence where Johnny swaps powers with the rest of the team is genuinely creative. Seeing Sue Storm's powers used by the Human Torch is a highlight.
- The Surfer's Board: The way he manipulates molecular matter isn't explained much, but the visual effects by Weta Workshop were ahead of their time.
- The Deleted Scenes: There are versions of the first film where Reed Richards stretches his face to look like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. It shows how badly Fox wanted a "Cinematic Universe" before it was even a thing.
Next Steps for Fans
If this trip down memory lane has you craving more Fantastic Four, you should check out the original "Galactus Trilogy" in the comics (Fantastic Four #48-50). It’s the source material for the movie but handles the scale of the threat much better.
Also, with the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps on the horizon, it's worth comparing how the new Sue Storm, Vanessa Kirby, is being handled compared to the 2007 era. The shift from "pretty crying" to "multidimensional lead" tells you everything you need to know about how much Hollywood—and our expectations—have changed.
Go back and watch the 2007 sequel with a bit of empathy for Alba. She was fighting a system that didn't know how to use her talent, and she still managed to define a generation’s image of the Invisible Woman.