Posted: Thu 20 Dec 2007 16:25 Post subject: actress Jada Pinkett-Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith in metal band
Wicked Wisdom lets her 'get down and dirty'
By STEVE TILLEY - Toronto Sun
It's not easy being a movie star who also plays in a rock band. Just ask Keanu Reeves.
So Jada Pinkett Smith did exactly that, when she decided to moonlight from acting and try the whole raunchy rock goddess thang, fronting a band called Wicked Wisdom.
"Keanu really helped me get an understanding of what I was doing, and what was going on," the actress turned metal queen said of her Matrix movies co-star, who plays bass in the not exactly acclaimed rock act Dogstar.
Raunchy? Metal? Yes, we're talking about that Jada Pinkett Smith. Married to some dude named Will, starred in Collateral and Ali and The Nutty Professor, looks like she'd weigh about 100 pounds soaking wet.
But when the guitar-and-drum-heavy band takes the stage at the Phoenix on Monday, opening for Atlanta groove-metal meisters Sevendust, the 5-foot-nothing Pinkett Smith will growl about darkness and death and breaking some mother-you-know-what-er's neck. Um, is this the same nice lady who voiced Gloria the hippo in Madagascar?
"It gives me an opportunity to express that other side of myself," Pinkett Smith said in a phone interview from Florida, where the band was playing a string of small club dates this week.
"I can give you the cute red-carpet flair, but there's also another side of me that likes to get down and dirty. That's the side I prefer, actually."
Many a Hollywood star has dabbled in the music game, but for every J.Lo there's a Russell Crowe, a Bruce Willis or a -- no offence to your pal, Jada -- Keanu Reeves.
"He was the first person to tell me, 'Jada, this is going to be rough. People already see you one way, and it's going to be very difficult to break that. Just know now you're going to be up for a lot of criticism.' "
Here's the thing, though. Her band Wicked Wisdom isn't bad, not bad at all. Pinkett Smith has the pipes and the presence, and the talented group is anchored by drummer and original Fishbone founding member Philip "Fish" Fisher.
Early life
Pinkett Smith was born Jada Koren Pinkett in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Adrienne Banfield, the head nurse of an inner-city clinic in Baltimore, and Robsol Pinkett, Jr., who runs a construction company. Her parents divorced after only several months of marriage and her mother has since re-married twice; Her mother became pregnant with her while still in high school. Pinkett Smith majored in theatre at the Baltimore School for the Arts, where she met fellow classmate Tupac Shakur with whom she developed a close friendship. In the documentary Tupac: Resurrection, Shakur says, "Jada is my heart. She will be my friend for my whole life." Also in this documentary, Pinkett Smith calls Shakur "one of my best friends. He was like a brother. It was beyond friendship for us. The type of relationship we had, you only get that once in a lifetime." The two remained close friends until Shakur's death in 1996. After graduating from the Baltimore School for the Arts, Pinkett Smith then spent a year at the North Carolina School of the Arts before dropping out to pursue her career in acting. Pinkett Smith is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Career
Pinkett Smith's big break came in 1991 when she was cast in the part of college freshman Lena James on the NBC television sitcom A Different World, a spin-off of The Cosby Show. She made her feature film debut two years later in Menace II Society (1993). She did not gain widespread recognition, however, until her role opposite Eddie Murphy in the remake of The Nutty Professor (1996). In 2001 she co-starred with her husband Will in the Academy Award nominated film Ali as the first wife of Cassius Clay. In 2003, she starred as Niobe in the Matrix series (Will Smith was originally considered for the role of Neo). In addition to being in front of the camera, she has spent time behind it, directing music videos. She has also created "Maja," a line of women's T-shirts and dresses that are mostly sold through small catalogs. In 2007, she starred in the Mike Binder film, Reign Over Me, also starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle.[1]
Pinkett Smith is the vocalist for the metal band Wicked Wisdom, which released a self-titled debut album on February 21, 2006. The band also toured Ozzfest in the summer of 2005 as part of the second stage lineup. In 2006 the band played the Download Festival in Castle Donnington, UK as one of the first bands on the Friday.[2]
[edit] Personal life
Pinkett Smith married rapper/actor Will Smith on December 31, 1997, and together they had a son, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (b. July 8, 1998); and a daughter, Willow Camille Reign Smith (b. October 31, 2000). She is also a stepmother to Smith's son from a former marriage with Sheree Zampino, named Willard Christopher Smith III. Jada Pinkett Smith co-founded the Will and Jada Foundation with her husband Will Smith. The foundation gives money towards youth educational projects and helps deprived children from inner cities and their families. In December 2006, Jada donated $1 million to the Baltimore School for the Arts, in memory of her friend and late rapper Tupac Shakur
Last edited by gemini072 on Fri 15 Aug 2008 15:32; edited 3 times in total
Jada Pinkett Smith (vocals), Pocket Honore (lead guitar), Phillip "Fish" Fisher (drums), Rio Lawrence (bass guitar), Cameron Graves (rhythm guitar & keys)
More than two years ago Wicked Wisdom set out on a fearless journey to create music that defies boundaries and convention. Fronted by accomplished actor Jada Pinkett Smith and backed by a live band whose resume displays a wealth of live and recorded projects, Wicked Wisdom has given birth to a sound that cannot be confined in a single genre. Seamlessly fusing the screaming guitars of heavy rock, driving drums of speed metal and unmistakably locked grooves of funk, with a melodic vocal style that is at the same time fierce and vulnerable, Wicked Wisdom tap into the blood line that fuels the human condition. This powerful music will be the soundtrack to revolutions as it pulses with an appeal so broad the typical restraints of our societies fall by the wayside.
Last edited by gemini072 on Fri 15 Aug 2008 15:26; edited 2 times in total
Posted: Fri 15 Aug 2008 15:34 Post subject: Jada Pinkett-Smith Would Quit Acting to Keep Her Marriage
Jada Pinkett-Smith says she would quit acting if it ever jeopardised her marriage.
The 'Reign Over Me' star admits that she values her family above her career.
Jada tells Britain's Independent newspaper, "I'm very aware how busy careers can quickly lead to divorce, but I'm not going to let that happen to us. I will throw my career away before I let it break up our marriage. I made it clear to Will. I'd throw it away completely, which is what I'm doing to a certain extent."
In her latest role, Jada plays a wife trapped in an unhappy marriage which taught her some valuable lessons to apply to her own marriage.
Jada said, "For me, these were experiences that were relatable, but the most interesting aspect of the relationship between this particular couple is that you see all the time how the smallest little germs can get inside of a relationship, things that aren't really tangible, but can create such a huge deterioration within a marriage.
"And you see this all the time - these are the things that you always have to be careful of.
"Even though you have this union as husband and wife, you can never forget who you are, just simply as yourself. If you lose yourself then everything else will fall out. There is no relationship to be had if you don't have a relationship with yourself first."
Posted: Wed 03 Sep 2008 14:37 Post subject: Jada in the Women remake
The movie The Women from 1939 is a bit of a cult classic in New York. Based on the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce, it follows the lives of a group of backstabbing, gossipy, spoiled New York socialites. Many fashion designers have admitted to watching it for inspiration so when I heard they were planning a modern remake, I was curious as to how they were going to do it considering that most of the movie centers on the characters traveling to Reno for divorces, which is no longer necessary in this day and age. But then I just read in Vanity Fair that the women in the new movie would be traveling to a "ashram-style retreat." Perfect! I can't believe it didn't think of that. Below is a photo of the new A-list cast.
The funny thing about the original movie was how modern the women seemed. You see them exercising and taking care of themselves just like today's New York socialites. Pretty funny then that they are remaking a movie that was already ahead of it's time. My suggestion is that you rent the original before you see the remake this fall.
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