Jessica Alba appeared in two national television commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penney as a child

Jessica Alba appeared in two national television commercials for Nintendo and J.C. Penney as a child. Alba was later featured in several independent films. Alba branched out into television in 1994 with a recurring role as the vain Jessica in three episodes of the Nickelodeon comedy series The Secret World of Alex Mack.

Jessica Alba then performed the role of Maya in the first two seasons of the television series Flipper. Under the tutelage of her lifeguard mother, Alba learned to swim before she could walk, and she was a PADI-certified scuba diver, skills which were put to use on the show, which was filmed in Australia.