Ever since playing streetwise Lena James on the college-campus sitcom A Different World, Jada Pinkett Smith has portrayed many a sexy shortie with attitude, boast a tough-as-nails swagger with a dash of vulnerability. Her film career—highlighted by Menace II Society, A Low Down Dirty Shame, Set It Off, Jason’s Lyric, and Woo—has been dotted with every possible permutation of the strong ghetto girl in distress.
But with mature roles like Bamboozled’s socially conscious Sloan Hopkins tucked under her belt, the Baltimore native who once spit verse with a teenaged Tupac Shakur in high school is proving to be more than the stereotypical neck-swiveling drama queen. Pinkett Smith has taken on a roster of challenging characters: exploring family matters in Fox Searchlight’s April release Kingdom Come, as well as starring in the highly anticipated pictures Ali (with husband Will Smith) and The Matrix 2 and 3.
But don’t think this woman is strictly business. The 29-year-old feels the upside of growing pains in both her professional and personal lives. As the mother of two youngsters (Jaden Christopher Syre, 2, and Willow Camille Reign, 6 months) and stepmom to 6-year-old Trey, Pinkett Smith is macking the maternal lifestyle—juggling play circles, early morning call times, and a little conjugal nookie on the side with the talented Mr. Smith. This pint-size fireplug’s still got teeth-gritting edge.
VIBE: Tell me about your character Charisse in Kingdom Come. I hear she’s pretty headstrong.
Jada Pinkett Smith: Definitely, but she’s a fool. She’s really self centered and headstrong about all the wrong things; she can’t see outside of herself. The patriarch of the family has passed away, and her focus is still all about her. It’s like, Sis, it’s not all about you right now.
Co-starring with LL Cool J, Whoopi Goldberg, Vivica A. Fox, Toni Braxton, et al, you’re doing another movie with a predominantly black cast. But you know what they say about working with our people…
It’s always been such a pleasure working with black directors and black casts, because you don’t have to spend a lot of time explaining yourself. It’s the same reasons why white people do all white films. These are the people you can relate to, that have the same experiences as you. I’ve never had any drama, only love. Like in Set It Off: There was so much buzz that there was going to be some drama with four black women working together, but that was probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a film.
You’re married to Anthony Anderson’s character in Kingdom Come. Can we expect any love scenes like you’ve done in the past? We all remember you rolling in the grass with Allen Payne in Jason’s Lyric.
None of that anymore. My older son is a little bit too old for me to be doing that if it’s not with his dad [laughter]! That part of my life is in the past. I’ve got sons now, and I’ve got a little girl. That was the other, younger Jada, who didn’t have any other responsibilities but to herself. Now I’ve got to think about my kids.
Of all the characters you’ve played—from manslaying Woo to stand-by-you-man Lyricto gangsta-boo Stoney to knucklehead Charisse—which of your roles is filled with the most Jada?
I really wasn’t in a space of maturity with that character to really fall into the depths of Lyric’s vulnerable space as I would’ve liked to. I think about it today, and I go, Wow, I could have done this and done this. That was another side of myself that I wasn’t comfortable showing yet. And from A Low Down Dirty Shame, Peaches was basically Jada at that time but to the third power. Set It Off was definitely Jada to another level. Stony was rah-rah but not that rah-rah [laughter]! That’s exactly how I would be—scared but [knowing I] gotta do my thing. Woo was truly the other side of Jada, like Honey, please talk to the hand [laughter].
If Woo was your alter ego, how did you deal with trifling men before you met Will?
The best punishment is just to be out. There’s so much you can take, I was definitely one of those chicks that would hang in there for a minute trying to week it out. But once I realized in my head that it just wasn’t it, I rolled. Then niggas was was like, “Well, where you going?” I was like, Man. I told you. You saw me hanging in there with your crazy ass, trying to work this out. You know what I’m saying? Now you want to know where I am? I’m somewhere not with you.
Was there a specific incident?
Nothing really, because when I was younger, I wasn’t living right either. I can’t really say that someone did anything so bad to me, because whatever they did, I deserved it.
Jada Pinkett Smith is a former playa-playa in repentance?
You can say it however you want [laughter].. I was young in Hollywood. I didn’t know about relationship and commitment. Unfortunately, that’s something that we’re not really taught, especially in our households. Most of us come from very dysfunctional places. Will is the first monogamous relationship I’ve had. I never knew what it took to have a healthy relationship or what commitment was all about.
How have the kids impacted your coochie-cooing sessions with Will?
HA HA [big laughter]!!! Well, shoot, kids are always going to put a little damper on that parade, but not so much that you can’t handle your business. They come, and, once again, you have that transition period where you have to find your groove within this new lifestyle you’ve been given. But it hasn’t been drama. We’ve handled it very well [naughty laughter].
Inquiring minds want to know the real deal with Will Smith. Does he come correct in the boudoir?
I’ll just say this one absolute fact. For all the women who want to know, all the women in the VIBE world: Will puts it down! I could not be married or be monogamous with anybody who didn’t. That’s real [big laughter]! All I have to do is look at Will, and everything gets turned on from that. I’m pretty much an easy catch. He’s got beautiful eyes, and his physique now is out of control ‘cause of Ali. Yeaaahhh… It doesn’t take much for my buttons to get pushed.
But Will is tall, maybe 6’2”, and you’re so petite.
It doesn’t matter. Size doesn’t matter. He says this all the time: I can’t come at him in a bad way. And I’m like, Whatever, Daddy—just bring it. That’s why we’re such a happy couple. We can’t be mad too long.
It’s great to have such a strong physical connection.
And also the spiritual connection. The friendship even deepens sexual connection. When all of that is tied in together, it never gets tired. You have your times when you’re kind of slow—if you’re working, or during pregnancy. That’s why it’s important to have that friendship and that spiritual connection. That’s what keeps it all together until the physical aspect of it booms back in, because everybody has their slow times.
Your children will grow up faster than you realize. What kind of relationship advice will you give them?
You basically have to go with the flow. I know for my daughter, I probably won’t put restrictions on her in a [harsh] way, because, being female myself. I understand the type of freedom a young girl needs. But when I talk about freedom, I mean you have to have a sense of responsibility. That’s very difficult in our culture, because we’re basically selling being a ho as what it is to be a woman today. If you’re not a ho, then you’re not really down or you’re not really hip. I don’t talk about freedom in that sense—basically just giving it away to whomever you want. There was a time when black women were very uptight about their sexuality. I think right now we’re going through a space where we’re finding our freedom as far as our sexuality, but I think we’re going to our next extreme. We’re going to find that middle ground. I hope by the time my daughter is of age we’ll be at that space.
You’re considered one of the sexiest people in Hollywood. What’s your definition of sexiness?
Really [laughter]? Well that is quite an honor. I’m learning as I get older, because I haven’t always been this way. I’m gaining a better understanding as I mature that what people are attracted to most of all—and especially my husband, who’s pretty much the only person I have to worry about these days—is beyond my physical. I’ll be 30 this year. I’m moving into a whole other space of my womanhood! So I’ve kind of outgrown that whole, well let me go out with my short skirts on, with my stomach out or my bust up. I don’t necessarily think that’s something I have to do. I feel like I’ve been there like hardcore [laughter]. I might go back to feeling like that. Now I’m finally feeling like a woman, whereas before I was a little girl just trying to be a woman. Now I’m really feeling myself. Trust that with Kingdom Come, Matrix 2 and 3, and Ali, y’all will see a whole new Jada. Believe me. Y’all bouts to see it like y’all haven’t seen it.
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This article originally appeared in VIBE’s May 2001 issue. Written by Brett Johnson | Photography by: Isabel Snyder and others.