Back when she was new to Hollywood, Jessica Alba couldn’t look the Beverly Hills, 90210 cast in the eyes. Not because she was shy or embarrassed or trying to avoid them—quite the opposite! The Dark Angel alum has revealed that she was actually instructed not to make eye contact with the BH90210 brood when she was guest-starring on the television series in 1998. Apparently, being the newcomer in town meant having to concede to some big egos.

On Thursday, October 1, the Honest Beauty founder was a guest on an episode of the Hot Ones, a web series produced by First We Feast and Complex Media, where host Sean Evans asks celebrities our ~burning~ questions while they eat chicken wings coated in hot sauce of varying degrees of spiciness. During the episode, Alba opened up about her less-than-warm welcome to the BH90210 crew.

Host Evans bridged the conversation by asking Alba about her most positive on-set experience. “Your early guest star cameos, they run the gamut, but I am curious about two in particular: Which was a more positive on-set experience for you? Playing Alex Mac’s rival Jessica on the Secret World of Alex Mack, or playing a pregnant teenager in 90210?” he asked. Alba responded with a preference for her time on The Secret World of Alex Mack before launching into her uncomfortable experience on the set of 90210. 

“I couldn’t even make eye contact with any of the cast members, which was really strange when you’re, like, trying to do a scene with them,” Alba explained of 90210. The Fantastic Four star even revealed that there was an implicit threat of her being kicked off the show if she broke the rule. “It was like, ‘You’re not allowed to make eye contact with any one of the cast members or you’ll be thrown off the set,’” she recalled.

Well, one thing’s for sure: Alba’s gone on to have a wildly successful and generally unbothered experience in Hollywood and beyond, so who’s the big dog on set now? In 2011, the actress even opened up her own beauty and household goods brand, The Honest Company, and let’s just say she’s been thriving even more since.

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