AceShowbiz - Jessica Alba is taking Spanish lessons, so she can sign up for Latin movies and feel more confident when talking about her Mexican heritage. The actress admits she confused a lot of journalists when she first became a star - because she looked Latino but couldn't speak the language.

Her lack of Spanish led to criticism and suggestions she wasn't a true Latina - something that really upset the "Fantastic Four" star. She tells Siempre Mujer magazine, "I didn't want to misrepresent Latinos and I didn't know how to defend myself. But I went to my room and I cried all night. Since then, I've preferred not to comment on the subject."

"I tried to explain to them that, in this country (America), I'm considered Latina and, thus, I consider myself Latina as well. I grew up eating enchiladas... I identify with Mexicans. It's in my blood whether or not I speak Spanish."

And now she's a mum, she has decided to sign up for Spanish lessons, so she and her daughter Honor can become fluent. She adds, "I know the basics, but I just hired a professor that specializes in Hispanic studies to teach me and Honor. God knows that I wish I was raised bilingual. But it wasn't to be."

"I want to make movies in Spanish... There are so many interesting themes and stories that are worth sharing, like the lives of immigrants, for example. There's a whole world that hasn't been sufficiently explored and I want to be part of it - the violence on the Mexican borders, the political upheaval in Venezuela and Bolivia and the drug trafficking in Colombia."