JEZ explores the vulnerable side of Jada Pinkett Smith,
the star of TNT’s next surefire hit, HawthoRNe.
Jada Pinkett Smith is a force of nature–
a talented and complex woman of purpose
who is widely admired and deservedly
celebrated for her strength, smarts, energy
and influence. She is spiritually centered, the
architect of a successful and multifaceted
career, the core of Hollywood’s most productive
family, and very much her own woman.
Creatively, there are few arenas that Jada Pinkett Smith
has not conquered. A versatile actress, she has starred
in such blockbuster films as The Matrix Reloaded, The
Matrix Revolutions, Collateral and, more recently, was
the voice of Gloria in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa; musically,
she fronts the progressive rock/metal band Wicked Wisdom. On
the writing front, Pinkett Smith penned the screenplay for The Human
Contract, a film that she also produced and directed. Offscreen, she
is equally industrious, raising two of Hollywood’s up-and-coming
young talents, Jaden and Willow, with their father, Will Smith, with
whom she shares a famously rock-solid union.
Pinkett Smith’s success is no happy accident, but rather a product
of her enviable ability to skillfully balance all facets of her fascinating
life. An invite into the deeply spiritual universe of this truly
singular talent unveils a world of unexpected qualities and aptitudes,
such as her ability to emphasize words to the far reaches of their syllabic
potential so that their meaning–and her message–is fully realized.
Pinkett Smith’s concentrated attention to detail serves as a great
reminder that she is, in all ways, present. And wholly, vividly alive.
As much an activist as she is an artist, Pinkett Smith is passionately
concerned and involved with women’s issues. So much so that
it comes as little surprise and absolutely no coincidence that she is
attracted to, and commonly associated with, the strong female characters
that she so expertly portrays–women who are tough, surviving and
intractably confident. But anyone who watched the subtle interactions
between Pinkett Smith and Jamie Foxx in Collateral knows that the
actress can play vulnerable, too–and far more convincing than most.
Seldom has on-screen conversation been so restrained, astute and sexy.
All sides of Pinkett Smith will intersect for her latest project,
HawthoRNe, slated to debut June 16 on TNT. In it, Pinkett Smith
plays the show’s title character, Christina Hawthorne, head nurse of
Richmond Trinity Hospital, and a woman who is an expert at caring
for others, but struggles to care for herself. Thrilled but surprised to
be back on television, Pinkett Smith is honored to be affiliated with
TNT, a network with many female leads at the center of its Emmy
award-winning shows.
There's Much More! For the full article, pick up a copy of the May 2009 JEZEBEL Issue today!