Jessica Alba: Zac Efron Looks Like 'a Child With a Lot of Makeup'

Jessica Alba compared "High School Musical" star Zac Efron's appearance to that of a child in a recent interview with Elle magazine.

The 27-year-old sex symbol recalls meeting the 20-year-old sensation and thinking "He looks like a child with a lot of makeup.

"I was like, 'My God, you're just a little kid,'" she says.

Alba, who has a baby on the way with fiance Cash Warren, also tells Elle she's been trying to break away from her pin-up image and be taken seriously as an actress.

Click here to read Alba's interview with Elle

“Contrary to how people may feel, I've never used my sexuality. That's not part of it for me. When I'm in a meeting, I want to tell you why I'm an asset, how I'm a commodity, how I can put a--es in the seats, not, 'There's a chance you're going to be able to [expletive] me.' That's never been my deal,” she said, citing the firm no-nudity clause in her contract.

In order to get attention away from her body and onto her acting, John Stockwell, who directed Alba in "Into the Blue," told the magazine, “Jessica will have to do something like what Charlize Theron did with 'Monster' in order to get people to pay attention to what a good actor she is."

Stockwell adds that Alba's "not a bubbleheaded Maxim bikini babe"

But he also recalls that when shooting the movie, which featured Alba and costar Paul Walker in swimwear, "Executives at MGM could barely focus on what was happening on the screen because they were so distracted by how good she looked in a bikini. I would literally get notes saying, 'Hey, why did you cut that one shot of Jessica swimming by?'”