Interview By: Lena Aburdene
LenaAburdene@TheCinemaSource.com

You might know Jada Pinkett Smith from The Matrix Trilogy. Or, you might know her for her highly publicized 'too much information' relationship with Will Smith. Whatever the case, there is more to Jada than meets the eye. From her political awareness to her soulful-rock band, this wife and mother wants to be known as more than just a film actress. She plays Annie in her most recent film, Collateral, but is more eager to speak about her band Wicked Wisdom and the upcoming election.

As an actress, Jada is drawn to roles that portray women in a positive light. However, she does acknowledge the fact the being drawn to strong roles limits her: 'I've limited myself unfortunately and I wouldn't recommend that to most women. At the end of the day you should take on a character without a personal connection but for me unfortunately just within my spirit, it just won't allow me to take roles that don't hold women in general in high standards. I say that from a creative standpoint, it should be just art, we should have creative freedom. Me personally, I'm connected to my art as using it as a voice for a community, especially the female community.'

As for Collateral, Jada felt challenged, saying, 'Michael Mann (the director) was telling me, 'Jada, you have 15 minutes to make a substantial connection with Jamie Foxx to hold the audience until the end of the movie. People have got to care about you or the movie doesn't work. I found that to be quite challenging, and thank goodness for Michael Mann because he crafted every moment and dialogue in that scene.'

Right now, Jada is passionate about her band Wicked Wisdom, which she calls a cross between rock and soul, but definitely not R&B. She also writes all the lyrics for them. You may have only heard of the band because they spent two weeks in Europe opening for Britney Spears. Jada sounds at the very least, excited to have had that opportunity: 'It was fantastic. Britney was so generous. She hadn't heard a song or seen nothing. So, we started out with two weeks and they asked me to extend but I had to get back to work. It was really great, you know, overseas my music is cool because everyone listens to everything there. It was a great place to go.' Jada also likes the thrill of having to work hard for something as she as already accomplished a great deal at home and with her career, as she humbly tells us, 'I love the journey of starting at the bottom of something and clawing my way back up.'

Jada is trying to create political awareness, especially with the upcoming election in November. As a role model for the African-American community, Jada is in a good place to encourage people that their vote and voice does matter: 'I feel a real responsibility to my community and so right now there has been this bizarre myth in our community how our vote doesn't count. I'm trying to get out there and re-educate on how the government works and break that myth and talk about the importance of being involved. I'm very passionate about getting people to vote.'

So is Jada Superwoman' How does she handle an alleged blissfully happy marriage, young children, a film career, a band and her political activism' Jada explains that it's hard but she is blessed, as she says, 'The good thing is, that having a creative life as my profession, my kids can come along. I'm able to actually share my professional and creative life with my kids so that makes it a lot easier' but its difficult for anybody to balance a career and a family'a husband and kids. But you just do it.' Sounds like Superwoman to me.