Jessica Alba: Motherhood Helped With 'Spy Kids 4' Role

Jessica Alba, who has daughters Honor, 3, and one-week-old Haven with husband Cash Warren, is currently starring in Spy Kids: All The Time In The World. In the movie she plays a retired secret agent who is raising three children, and the actress says her real-life experiences as a mother helped her gain insight into her movie role.

"I think it was helpful. I don't know if I would have even done this movie if I wasn't a parent, so I actually brought my real life experience to work," she said. "It was more natural and I've been in a lot of those circumstances for sure."

The busy mom-of-two said she appreciated the realistic portrayal of a working parent. "It was nice to see someone in the movie who struggles with it, and who isn't perfect at doing it all, and is also torn between working or staying home," she pointed out.

"Those are all things that moms can, or parents really, can relate to. It's tough to go back to work and it's tough to spend so much time away from your kid, but then you have to make a living. It's also important to hang on to your own identity and be a good example. There's all these things that you struggle with as a parent and I thought it would be nice to have that in the movie."