JESSICA ALBA I'm Feeding My Soul

THE ACTRESS AND MOM OF THREE IS TAKING THE LEAD IN THE NEW ACTION MOVIE TRIGGER WARNING AND FOCUSED ON FINDING HER JOY

- JULIE JORDAN

When Jessica Alba stepped down as chief creative officer of the Honest Company in April, she was ready to stretch her wings. "I love the idea of thinking outside the box and pushing boundaries," says the actress and business mogul, 43, who launched her baby products and personal care business in 2012. "But when so much of my time and heart and mind was really in one space, it didn't allow for me to go beyond that."

On June 21 she's taking control in the new Netflix action movie Trigger Warning, portraying a knife-wielding Special Forces commando with impressive fighting skills that hark back to her breakthrough role on the TV series Dark Angel.

The biggest challenge for Alba? Being on location in New Mexico for six weeks, away from her three kids, Honor, 16, Haven, 12, and Hayes, 6, with her husband of 16 years, entrepreneur Cash Warren, 45. “I’m so used to our routine,” she says. “Even if I’m just giving them a cuddle at night before they go to sleep, I just miss those kinds of mundane, everyday interactions.”

She also gives them credit for embracing her as a working mom. “It’s not really something they question,” adds Alba, who now cohosts the Roku Channel reality series