Jessica Alba was "demeaned" by her acting career.
Jessica Alba covers Cosmopolitan
The 38-year-old star - who has Honor, 11, Haven, seven, and Hayes, 18 months, with husband Cash Warren - took a break from her Hollywood career to launch the business, The Honest Company, seven years ago and admitted she was ready to take a step back because she was tired of being treated differently to her male co-stars.
She told Britain's Cosmopolitan magazine: "I was demeaned so much.
"The way women were treated in many circumstances, I was just over it.
"I'd do a lot of press, the guys did nothing compared to what I was doing. I was like, 'I'm done doing it this way.' "
The 'Sin City' star suggested she had been a victim of sexual misconduct during her career and thinks her experiences made her into an "aggressive tomboy", though she declined to give the specifics.
In the wake of the #MeToo campaign, Jessica was asked if she had experienced Hollywood at its worst and said: "I'm just gonna... say nothing, because I don't really like focusing on that.
"Just know that I've been through it and I guess I learned how to have a really thick skin.
"I think that's why I was so aggressive and such a tomboy and probably cursed too much.
"I've always approached everything with a bit of cynicism and a chip on my shoulder. Not in a bad way, in a way that drove me."
Jessica has returned to acting with a role in 'LA's Finest' - a female TV spin-off of the 'Bad Boys' franchise and admitted the show, which she executive produced, was exactly what she was looking for.
She said: "This is the role I always wanted. I didn't want to be the woman who Bruce Willis was into in 'Die Hard'. I wanted to be Bruce Willis."
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