1 of 2 | Actress Jada Pinckett Smith arrives at the 2010 American Music Awards in Los Angeles November 21, 2010. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
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LOS ANGELES, June 16 (UPI) -- Jada Pinkett Smith's upcoming role as Rome in Magic Mike XXL isn't a surprise; in her work, she says she tends to gravitate toward strong female characters.
In a new interview with Haute Living magazine, the 43-year-old Gotham star faces up to her affinity toward roles which she is the boss. "In all honestly that is probably where I am restricted in my creative pursuits," she said. "I have no idea how not to be strong, and I don't know if I have the desire to."
The mother of two shared her experience fighting the built-in ego-war that comes with celebrity, saying it is one of the hardest parts of acting. "I've been having a lot of ego deaths lately that are connected to this idea of a celebrity," she said.
"That's a thing I have to contend with in this business: you have to crash and burn to [become] a more authentic [version of yourself] -- being who you are instead of whom you want people to think you are!"
The self-assured actress, and wife to actor Will Smith, said she was at first reluctant to essentially play a "brothel madame" in the Magic Mike sequel, but that the film's leading man, Channing Tatum, helped change her mind.
"The part of Rome was originally written for a man," Smith said, "but after getting on Skype with Channing and director Greg Jacobs, I knew their intensions were pure." She said that what Tatum told her about the film making the adult entertainment industry "responsible" swayed her to take the part.
Smith also intends to return to more creative projects as her children Willow Smith and Jaden Smith take on projects of their own. Willow, 14, recently signed a deal to be the new face of Marc Jacobs while Jaden has been confirmed for a role on the Netflix original, The Get Down.
"My family is my priority. If my family is stable and everyone has what they need, then I look at a way to fit in a creative endeavor," she told Haute. "My kids are becoming older and there is less of a need for me to remain stationary."
On a final note, Smith confronts the hot-topic of female empowerment, saying that women need to be more dependent on their intuition. "There is no one way to do it! A woman needs to be deeply connected to herself and her family, and has got to trust herself," she said. It's about staying present and adjusting the formula, which comes in a million forms."
"Women need courage to be able to step out of the box and be who they are meant to be," she said.
