[“Africa is one of the most spiritual and beautiful places I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting.”]
Best known for her character Niobe in the hugely successful Matrix trilogy, Jada Pinkett Smith has become one of today’s most versatile and talented stars both on and off screen.
Since making her film debut in the critically acclaimed Menace II Society, the petite Maryland native has starred in a number of high-profile films including “The Nutty Professor,” “Collateral,” “Set It Off: and even co-starred opposite her husband, actor Will Smith, in Michael Mann’s “Ali.”
With a list of impressive film credits, she was recently seen on the big screen opposite Meg Ryan and Evan Mendes in the long-awaited remake of the 1939 drama “The Women,” and returns as the voice of Gloria the hippo in the soon to be released animated film “Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa.”
Q: You are coming back to voice the lovable hippopotamus Gloria in the Madagascar sequel. Is it easier playing the same character the second time around?
JPS: For me with the first Madagascar I had a really difficult time trying to figure out this whole animation world and what I was supposed to do, but this time around it was easier because you know who the character is so you’re basically playing the same character and being presented with new material.
Q: With Gloria being twice your size, do you play it a little differently when the character weighs six times as much as you do? JPS: I’ve always been that girl that wanted more body so this was a great opportunity for me. I got a lady that has a lot of body and she’s very proud of it and I think that’s a very wonderful message for adults as well as children. Your body is what you have and you have to be happy within your own skin. Happiness and love comes from within and if you can truly authentically love yourself that will exude and permeate through the physical universe and you will attract people that will love you.
Q: You have traveled extensively around Africa, what’s that experience been like?
JPS: Very spiritual. I actually just got back, and this time around Will and I traveled through Tanzania. We went to Bagamoyo, Arusha, Zanzibar and we were actually literally in the bush. Africa is one of the most spiritual and beautiful places I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. Like the characters in the movie, when I stepped foot on the ground of Africa I felt like I had returned to my roots. I
feel like I am home, and so Will and I try to at least make a trip to Africa once a year.
Q: In this movie you also get to work with the late Bernie Mac who voices Zuba the lion. Do you have any memories of Bernie that you would like to share? JPS: I didn’t get the opportunity to directly work with Bernie but I knew Bernie and he was a great guy and I was happy that I was able to be a part of one of his last works. A loss is never easy, but Bernie did a lot of great work and he is going to be missed.
Q: You have a production company called 100% Womon, you’re an established actress, have a band and a family, how do you balance it all?
JPS: I have a lot of help. I have a great husband and a mother who is very helpful as far as helping me with the kids when I am at work. I really feel like its joy. I have learned in my life that I really can do as much as I want to do and have as much as I want to have as long as I am happy. I am really motivated by happiness and fulfillment and I am not ready to compromise. I want to be a great mother. I want to be a great wife and I also want to have a great career and I feel that I can have all of those things and I don’t have to compromise not one area of my life. I feel like as long as I keep myself happy then I can have it all.
Q: You have had a great box office success with Lakeview Terrace and most recently The Secret Life of Bees, which you also produced. How does it feel to have such successes?
JPS: It feels really good. The Secret Life of Bees and Lakeview Terrace was a project that’s been around for a while and we were very lucky to get Samuel L. Jackson to attach himself in that magnificent performance as well as all the other great actors of the movie. I am just glad to be at a point in my career as well as Will where we can go to studios and they can trust us. It makes me happy and I hope to continue to help bring projects like that to the forefront for African American actors as well as other actors. I just directed a movie called The Human Contract which doesn’t star any African American actors. So I am just trying to be creative and expansive.
Q: What’s the next project we can expect to see you in? JPS: I am executive producing and staring in a TNT project called Time Heals.
It’s a medical drama with this particular character who is a chief of nursing. Her husband has passed away and she’s coping with his loss.
Q: Do you have any hopes and expectations for the upcoming election?
JPS: I have big, big hopes and my expectations are grand. I haven’t been quiet about it. Everybody knows that I am an Obama and Michelle fan.
Q: What’s the one thing about these two people? JPS: I am inspired by the idea that change is very possible and I think Obama is a representation of the American idea. He is it.
