• Faith: Unknown
• Career: Actor
• Birthday:  February 18, 1957

Jada Pinkett Smith is a singer, talk-show host, and actress. She’s the co-host of the Facebook Watch talk show “Red Table Talk,” for which she has received a Daytime Emmy Award. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2021. She landed her big break on the sitcom “A Different World” and went on to star in movies like “Menace II Society,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Set It Off,” and “Scream 2” before her prominent contributions to “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” and the animated “Madagascar” films. She returned to TV, starring in roles in “Hawthorne” and “Gotham.”

Her other acting roles include “Magic Mike XXL,” “Bad Moms,” “Girls Trip,” and “The Matrix Resurrections.” In 2002, Pinkett Smith started a music career as a lead singer and songwriter for the nu-metal band Wicked Wisdom. In 2005, she published a children’s book, Girls Hold Up This World, which landed at number two on The New York Times Best Seller list. Along with her husband, Will Smith, she has a production company and has produced credits for documentaries, movies, and TV series. In 2010, she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Musical as a producer for the Broadway musical, “Fela!”

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Pinkett Smith was named after her mother’s favorite soap opera actress, Jada Rowland. She was raised by her mother and grandmother, Marion Martin Banfield, after her parents got divorced. Her grandmother noticed Pinkett Smith’s passion for the performing arts and enrolled her in tap dance, piano, and ballet lessons. She attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, where she met and became close friends with classmate and rapper Tupac Shakur. She majored in theatre and dance and graduated in 1989. After graduation, she spent a year at the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Pinkett Smith started her acting career in 1990 when she starred in an episode of “True Colors.” She received guest roles in TV shows like “Doogie Howser, M.D.” and “21 Jump Street,” and earned a role on comedian Bill Cosby’s NBC TV sitcom “A Different World” in 1991 as college freshman Lena James. In 1993, she appeared in her first movie, “Menace II Society.” A recommendation from her friend Tupac Shakur got her cast as a single mother, Ronnie. Shakur was also set to appear in the film before he was fired. Pinkett Smith considered dropping out of the film after Shakur’s departure, but he convinced her to keep the role. In 1994, she acted with Keenan Ivory Wayans in “A Low Down Dirty Shame,” describing her character Peaches as “raw” with “major attitude,” and her acting garnered positive reviews.

The New York Times wrote, “Ms. Pinkett, whose performance is as sassy and sizzling as a Salt-N-Pepa recording, walks away with the movie.” In 1994, she starred as a title character in Doug McHenry’s romantic drama “Jason’s Lyric,” opposite Allen Payne. She’s married to Will Smith, and they have two children.

What religion is Jada Pinkett Smith?

Jada Pinkett Smith has never publicly claimed any religion. In her memoir, Worthy, Pinkett Smith said she’s “never been a fan of organized religion” but didn’t feel negatively about Scientology, like some others.