She is a singer, a songwriter, a producer and an actor, but Jada Pinkett Smith is also known as the wife of actor Will Smith. A real red-carpet power couple, they have something rare in Hollywood: a marriage that has lasted more than a decade -- 11 years and counting. They have a son, Jaden, 10, and a daughter, Willow, 8.
Pinkett Smith's "Matrix" movies made her a star in her own right. Pinkett Smith, 37, also produced the 2008 film "The Secret Life of Bees" and is starring in TNT's new nursing drama, "Hawthorne" (9 p.m. EDT Tuesday). She plays Christina Hawthorne, a head nurse in a city hospital who is dealing with the death of her husband and raising a teen-age daughter alone.
Excerpts from an interview:
Q: Did you base some of the character of Nurse Hawthorne on your grandmother or mother?
A: You know, my mother was an R.N. and also a single mother. I wouldn't say I based it on either of them, but I definitely did get a lot of pointers from my mom just in dealing with the politics nurses face within the hospital and just kind of getting her advice on certain situations and asking her about certain medical terms or how you do certain things technically. My mother was really helpful in that way.
Q: But as far as the sort of determined, strong-minded, self-confident personality of the character and you, what inspired that?
A: I would say for the character, the type of determination that she has is probably a version of Jada. She kind of goes over and beyond. I'm the type of person that goes over and beyond as well, but not in the way that Christina does. ... I would say a lot of my confidence definitely came from my upbringing with my grandmother and my mother, for sure.
Q: You said in other interviews that fathers are very important to a girl's self-esteem. Where did you get such a strong sense of self?
A: I think that's the whole beauty of having parents. It's very important, I believe, my own personal opinion, and it might differ with other people, but I believe having those two energies is really important for the balance of a human being. And, you can get it at different times in your life. I got my balance a little later in life, but ultimately the masculine and the feminine energies are energies a child definitely needs in their development.
Q: You have a lasting Hollywood marriage with all the attention that attracts. Is there a kind of pressure to continue to be "the married couple"?
A: (Laughing) No, we never have pressure to be the married couple. It's great that people look at our marriage and see nice qualities, but at the end of the day our marriage has to be based on the needs that we have for our union and not necessarily for what it looks like. We just really focus on those needs.
Q: How much collaborating do you and Will do when it comes to raising children?
A: Every aspect of your relationship is collaboration. Raising our children, that's something we do together. You must have a united front because that creates the stability for your kids.
Q: How has having famous parents been good for them? I'm not talking about material things.
A: One of the advantages is they have access to the world. They have access to many different types of environments, groups and cultures. ... They don't fear somebody who is different than they are.
Q: Do they ever come home and ask you about rumors they've heard about you and Will?
A: You don't have to tell them anything. They live the truth, so they know what it is. We don't even discuss that stuff. They know us. They know their lives, and there really hasn't been any rumors or tabloid stories that really mean anything substantial. (Laughing)
Q: You and Will started a school that is not a Scientology school, correct?
A: Absolutely. It is absolutely not. It is completely and utterly secular. ... We have no interest in having a Scientology school.
Q: Has doing the TNT series been easy to fit into your family life?
A: It's not easy on family time, but Will's not working right now, and I have my mother out here. I just told my kids, "Listen, for these next three months it's going to be rough, are you OK with that?" "Just think, it's only three months and you'll have me for the rest of the year to drive you crazy." (Laughing) My son is preparing now for "Karate Kid." And Willow, too, she's doing television shows, so it's all good. They are the best kids ever.
Q: So everybody is in the family business now.
A: Everybody.
(Patricia Sheridan can be reached at psheridan(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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