I have to believe she was misquoted, or excerpted in some unflattering way, because Jessica Alba couldn’t have actually [said this](http://www.elle.com/Pop-Culture/Cover-Shoots/Jessica-Alba-The-Girl-Can-t-Help-It/(imageIndex)/3/(play)/false):
> Good actors, never use the script unless it’s amazing writing. All the good actors I’ve worked with, they all say whatever they want to say.
Oh, Jessica. Where to start?
**Scripts aren’t just the dialogue.** Screenplays reflect the entire movie in written form, *including those moments when you don’t speak.* Do you know the real reason we hold table readings in pre-production? So the actors will read the entire script at least once.
**Following your logic, you’ve never been in a movie with both good actors and amazing writing.** That may be true, but it might hurt the feelings of David Wain, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller.
**You’re saying your co-stars who delivered their lines as written are not “good actors.”** Awkward.
**You’re setting dangerous expectations.** So if an aspiring actor wishes to be “good,” she should say whatever she wants to say? That’s pretty terrible advice.
**Screenwriters can be your best friends.** We are pushovers for attractive people who pay attention to us. I wrote that bathtub scene in Big Fish because Jessica Lange made brief eye contact with me. So if you’re not getting great writing — and honestly, you’re not — ask to have lunch with the screenwriter. I’ve seen you on interviews. You’re charming. That charm could work wonders.
Again: I know that quotes often come out in ways we never intended. It’s lacking context — though the photos are lovely. (Hi, Carter Smith!) I’m calling this out just so we can all hopefully learn something.
(h/t David Dean Bottrell for the link.)