I love motocross, but I'm not very good at it. I'm such a spaz, I'll just get cocky and confident enough and I know I'll break my neck.

Jolene Blalock. Jeri Ryan. Gillian Anderson - what have these fine figures of women got in common? Sci-fi, sir. Ever since Anderson moistened the anoraks of X-Files fanatics in the mid-'90s, there hasn't been a science fiction show on telly without a gorgeous lady holding its mostly-male audience to rapt attention.

And that's the lesson James Cameron kept in mind when he created Dark Angel, his superb dystopian series built around the charms of Jessica Alba, a sexy teen (she was 18 then) playing a genetically modified rebel assassin chick.

Dark Angel’s finished now, but Jessica's gone up in the world with her new movie, the hip-hop chick flick Hol1ey. It's inspirational and that. We were certainly inspired when Jess (we're calling her Jess now) sat down for a chat after our shoot, golden sand still nestling in her lovely crevices.

Jess, we've seen you on TV leaping off tall buildings and kicking many an evil henchman's head in. Is there anything you baulk at, danger-wise?

Downhill skiing. I've skied before, and I have a snowboard, but fast downhill skiing looks so sick. All I can think about is your legs snapping off or running off a mountain I would never do that.

What brings out the danger seeker side of you?

I love motocross, but I'm not very good at it. I'm such a spaz, I'll just get cocky and confident enough and I know I'll break my neck. I haven't done any big jumps, but riding a motorcycle is the best thing. You want to go faster, and you don't want to wear a helmet and you want to do tricks. If I do another action movie, which I intend to, I gotta throw some motorcycle stuff in there.

I suppose they couldn't fit Harley Into Honey. Is the dance training as hard as the training you did on angel?

It was exhausting. You have to be so aware of your body, from your stomach to your posture to your arms to being relaxed but strong at the same time. And then you have to be on beat and know the numbers and changing rhythms. But it was a dream I had when I was a kid, to be a dancer.

Really? How come that didn't work out for you?

I developed really fast I was tall and a little overweight. I was in a class with skinny 11-year-olds, who had been dancing since they were three. I was at least a head taller than everybody, with a booty and a tummy and boobs and chunky arms. There were mirrors everywhere, and I wasn't aware of my body.

You just leave all that body awareness to us. We were certainly on alert watching you lap dance in Honey,

It wasn’t a lap dance. It was a music video, and Honey, my character, had to dance while this guy was sitting on a chair singing his song to the camera. That was probably the most nerve-racking to shoot. I get really embarrassed about stuff like that. It was up on a stage, and everybody was watching, and I was wearing this little outfit.

We've had that nightmare before. How did you get through it?

Hey, it was in the story, and I wasn't going to be a brat and not come out of my trailer. And it wasn't like I was doing a sex scene or showing my body. You don't see boobs, booty, anything It's just dancing.

Shame. But how would you rate your rump-shaking on a scale of one to 'Sweet lord, we've been struck blind'?

This is a thing that maybe guys don't understand. To them, going to clubs is about picking up chicks. But for girls who love dancing, it's about a form of expression. Before I was legal to go into clubs. I used to go to raves to dance. From drum-and-beat to techno to reggae, it was not about being sexy. It was another form of expression, like acting.

Your character on Angel was genetically engineered. If science could create the perfect man, what would he be made of?

There's no such thing as a perfect guy. I think it would be strange if somebody was absolutely everything you always wanted, because then there'd be no challenge. Also, you'd feel inferior. If somebody is that perfect how can you not think of yourself as being so imperfect next to him? I think people are perfect in their imperfections.

That's what we've been saying all along. So what was your first imperfect boyfriend like?

He was a born-again Christian. I was, too, kind of, from 12 to 16. Very regimented and internal and 'deep'. I went to church three times a week. If I stubbed my toe, I would say 'Oh, darn.’ Born agains take themselves very seriously.

Right. Was your family OK with your sudden Jesus freakiness?

No. Everybody still laughs about it. My grandmother found my boyfriend and his best friend in my closet praying, and she called them the closet boys. Weird.

How did you escape?

I went to the director David Mamet's acting school in Vermont and William H. Macy from Fargo was my acting teacher. It was eight weeks at a women's college. I was the youngest and it ranged to people in their mid-4Os. All different races, sexual preferences... I realised that that was reality, and I was living in a bubble.

We're glad it got popped. What kinds of hard lessons did you learn in your early acting days?

It's just cutthroat When you're 12, and your mom's making you look like Malibu Barbie for some Barbie commercial, and you're sitting with a bunch of blonde, blue eyed Barbie lookalikes, all over 18, and you're an over-developed 12-year-old, and you've got brown skin, teased hair, and some ridiculous outfit and they say, ‘We're not going to see you’, it's so ruthless. I ran in these dumb heels. wearing all this makeup They don't care.

Weren't you on a couple of episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 near the bitter end of its run?

Yeah, it was weird. There was this contract you had to sign where you couldn't look the actors in the eyes, you couldn't say their names in conversation while you were on the set, and you couldn't stare at them It was really crazy.

What was it like being directed by infamous taskmaster James Cameron on Dark Angel!

I love him. I work really well with people who are focused, better than with people who are artsy, feely, manipulative, who will try to mess with my head to get what they want I'd rather they say, 'OK, I have a breakdown. Go figure out how to do that.' I totally understand tl1e way Jim works.

We're sorry, but we have to bring up your Incredible lips.

I remember somebody made my lips the focus of an article they wrote about Dark Angel. I thought that was so bizarre. I don't think Jim Cameron cared about that! I don't know, I get really embarrassed.

What makes you feel sexy, then?

Working out As long as I feel healthy and strong, then I'm feeling sexy

Besides unexpected nudity,is there anything else you don't go for?

I don't think I like anybody who's freaky or anything. But if someone has piercings or tattoos, that's not weird to me. If somebody's straight and uptight that's probably more bizarre to me than someone who can talk about how they're feeling. If somebody's completely in denial of who they are, that's the kind of freakiness I'm not into.

Has your smart-arsey side got you in trouble?

• See more Jessica Alba at Freeones