Actress leaves comfort zone to play blind violinist in Hong Kong remake.
She's one of the most looked-at women on the planet, but these days, Jessica Alba isn't looking at much of anything.
"I totally appreciate the stuff [I usually do]," the "Sin City" stunner said last week on the set of her latest movie. "But you know what? It's a lot more interesting for me to play someone who is blind and a classical violin player than someone who is running around in the rain wearing a white T-shirt."
In one of the most daring moves of her young career, Alba is spending her days stumbling around the dingy streets of downtown L.A. for "The Eye." It's a gritty reinterpretation of the cult Hong Kong thriller "Jian Gui" and casts the actress as a sightless violinist whose cornea transplant gives her an unwanted peek into the world of the supernatural. The high-profile autumn release has Alba working for producer Tom Cruise (a huge fan of the original film) and has forced Alba to stroll considerably outside her comfort zone.
"I had wanted to do it for a long time," she said of her first thriller. Dressed in a turtleneck, slacks and a trench coat your mother might find at Ann Taylor, Alba is certainly a long way from her "Into the Blue" bikini. "This, I think, is really intelligent. It's a beautiful story about this girl's journey gaining her sight and dealing with never having had it. Gaining it, and then losing her sanity. It just happens to be wrapped up in a horror movie."

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