Jada Pinkett Smith covers the October issue of Health Magazine to promote her role as villain Fish Mooney on the new series Gotham on Fox. Gotham tells the origin stories of well known DC characters including Batman, The Joker and Catwoman. It also stars Donal Logue (love him!) and Benjamin McKenzie as Gotham’s finest. Jada’s character is a new addition to the story. I saw a preview clip available on X-Box, and Jada was a little stiff in the role. Maybe she’s playing an over the top classic villian. Jada says as much in her Health interview. She also talks about the hands-off parenting style she practices with Will and she praises Angelina Jolie for helping her research human trafficking. (She has a documentary called Rape for Profit, which is available on iTunes. The companion website is Don’tSellBodies.org.) At one point, when she’s asked what she does to maintain her “amazing skin,” Jada omits some key details. Here’s more, thanks to Health, and you can read the entire interview on their website:
On her parenting style…
“I think we have to have more trust in our children. People have always gotten on us about not punishing the kids, and let me just talk to you about that for a minute. We raised three kids before Willow and Jaden, and especially on my goddaughter, I put so many boundaries on her—‘No, you can’t do that, you can’t do this.’ And everything I tried to control, every freakin’ thing I was trying to avoid, happened. I learned a lot from that experience and realized that while Willow and Jaden are still with me and have a safety net, I want to give them the opportunity to make mistakes and learn how to put boundaries on themselves. So by the time they’re out of the house, they fly.”On what didn’t work for her character on Gotham…
“I went in for the table read and did this over-the-top Mid-Atlantic accent, like Joan Crawford. And Peter Roth from Warner Bros. called me that afternoon and said, ‘Jada, I don’t know how to tell you this, I love you to death, but…’”On Angelina Jolie’s support…
“Angelina Jolie and I, we’re not friends, but when I called her about my human trafficking endeavors, she went all in. And I really appreciated that because there are not a lot of times that you can call upon people in our business and get serious help. She put me in contact with the people I needed to be in contact with, she sent me books, sent me all the information she had. I’m not saying that Angelina and I are, like, girlfriends and kicking it every day, but when you call another woman who’s in a position to lend support to you and she just jumps right in there – that’s sisterhood.”On aging…
“…It is what it is! I’m getting older! I’ve never looked at myself as, like, a beauty. I’m not sore on the eye, but I know there’s always going to be somebody more beautiful—always. My grandmother used to say to me, ‘It’s not about what you look like on the outside. It’s what you look like on the inside.’ So she helped me learn at an early age to be well-rounded, to be spiritual, to be compassionate.”Asked: What do you do to maintain your amazing skin?
“Nothing supremely special. I get a facial maybe twice a year, and I drink a lot of water… [She spies Willow across the street, coming back from Whole Foods with a family friend, and waves.] “Willow got into alkaline water, and Jaden’s like, ‘Mommy, you can only drink distilled water.’ And I’m like, ‘Listen, I can’t keep up with you all, I just can’t. I’m cool with the tap water.'”On her fitness regimen…
“It’s funny—my cardio workout varies. If I have a heavy carb week, I’ve got a heavy cardio week. I tell people all the time, ‘You can eat whatever you want, as long as you’re willing to put the work in,’ and that’s a thing I had to learn. So I make sure I do something physical every single day. But that doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym and freakin’ kill yourself! I do 20 minutes of cardio a day… Literally, I’m never in the gym longer than 45 minutes. Just be consistent— that’s it! It doesn’t necessarily have to be intense, and you will see a difference.”
There’s a lot here, and there’s even more in the source article. I found it strange that Jada praised Angelina on one hand and yet kept insisting that they weren’t friends. If someone in your industry helped you with a key project, wouldn’t you say something like “we didn’t really know each other well beforehand, but she really stepped up for me”? Why would you repeatedly insist that you are not friends with the person unless there’s some history there? (Update: many of you have commented that Jada probably doesn’t want to come across like she’s name dropping, and may not want people asking about her “friendship” with Angelina Jolie. That’s a very good point.)
In terms of her parenting style being reactionary, that makes sense. It’s a dumb way to approach raising kids, but it makes sense. It’s still not an acknowledgment that many aspects of the Pinkett-Smith’s belief system are straight from Scientology. Jada will tell the public a lot of things, but she keeps some things close to the vest. Her skin is not just the result of facials, she’s obviously done injectables, but she’s not going to talk about it. At least it’s settled for her.
Jada is shown at the premiere of Gotham on 9-15-14. Credit: Dennis van Tine/Future Image/WENN.com and Celebrity Monitor, PacificCoastNews.com
I don’t like Jada much but I think it was honest and respectful of her to make it clear that she and Angelina aren’t friends. I guess it could be read a couple ways:
One: she’s not thirsty and she’s letting everyone know it–mama isn’t riding on ANYONE’S coat-tails, no she is NOT.
Two: She is respectful of Angelina’s place in the world and realizes that it is easy to sound like she’s name-dropping, so she’s being careful to express gratitude and keep things clear that this is a professional connection that brought her some much-appreciated help.
As abrasive as I find her, I think she was being her normal, hard-edged self and saying it out of politeness. It actually made me like her a little bit.
Hm.
*Time for more coffee*
That’s what I thought, too, Frida_K, that she just didn’t want to seem to be name-dropping or claiming to be bffs with Angelina. I don’t like her very much, either, but I don’t think she meant any harm by that.
I don’t have kids, so it’s easy for me to say, but I think her parenting approach is so wrong.
I agree with you there. I felt like she wanted to thank Angelina Jolie for all the help she gave her but at the same time, put the point across that she isn’t just casual name dropping. I like her more for it.
I agree with this interpretation.
I agree. She calls it ‘sisterhood’, and is appreciative about it- and that’s actually a very sweet comment from her. Never liked her much, but it’s wise to prevent the impression of name dropping. This all sounds very grounded, really.
Maybe she didn’t want to come across as name dropping.
Wtf did she do to her face
I have never liked this woman.I also find her not attractive or pretty at all.She has defiantly had botox and fillers.Her body is hard but very masculine.I find her just hard on the eyes.
Definitely. My first thought was why are they focusing on her supposed youthful skin when she actually looks pretty harsh right now? She looks stretched too…like face-lift stretched. So much for supposed facials.
Is anyone else fed up with how just about every single female celebrity over the age of 40 – or even 35 – gets asked about ‘ageing’? You’d swear getting older was some weird event which only happened to women, never men.
Thats because men can get bald, (bruce willis) fat (alec baldwin) or just age naturally (Jack Nicholson, etc.)with no problelm. Any woman that gains a pound is put on the cover of the Enquirer with red circles around her cellulite, wrinkles, etc.
Oh yes, I forgot. Men mature ‘like a fine wine’, but women just get old and decrepit.
(Sarcasm, if it wasn’t obvious.)
It really is tiring..not to mention uninteresting.
Exactly. It’s just so dull. EVERYONE gets older, provided they’re lucky to live long enough. And the answers are always the same – oh, I feel so much more comfortable now that I’m older/ of course I haven’t had any work done/blah blah blah. I wish someone would just refuse to answer those silly questions, or ask the interviewer if they’d ask the same question to a man of similar age – because they almost never do. You don’t hear Leo Di Caprio or Ethan Hawke getting asking about ‘ageing’.
Also like aging is a bad thing – think of the alternative! Aging is Growing and learning and Living what is so godawful about that? Young people – use Witch hazel – this is great for combination skin – it doesn’t seem to dry it out or oil it up – my Grandmother swore by this stuff and it worked on her. A pharmacist once told a bunch of us cashiers/assistants to – Not wash the face as excessive washing will wear away the collagen level after time; also, put on cream with the pinkie finger applyin upward so as to be gentle on the skin – mary kay representative. Witch Hazel removes make up without soap or fancy chemical products. This is better alternative than all the chemical products in the magazines – what you put On you put In.
Honestly I think we women do it to ourselves to some extent. Women see a great-looking over 40 female and want to know what her secret is. I say it’s simple – either they have great genes or they’ve had plastic surgery. When we do see pics of older male actors who’ve let themselves go, and they are out there (Hello Jack Nickelson, Leo, Val Kilmer, Nick Nolte, Mickey Rourke, Pierce Brosnan, Vince Vaugh) we don’t really care. It’s not that they age like fine wine or become more distinguished. Obviously that’s not true in many cases, but I don’t think women care about them. These blogs are mainly female – not that there aren’t some men on here, but it is vastly female.
I think it’s because Brad and Angelina have close friendships with lots of people in Hollywood (George Lucas, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Marion Cotillard, Coen brothers etc) and it’s an unspoken rule that no one these true friends ever namedrops the Jolie-Pitts.
Jada might have slipped by mistake and wanted to make sure that she doesn’t get hounded now by the media regarding whatever relationship she has with Angelina.
But the one thing I really liked about this interview is that Angelina is a woman’s woman and well liked and respected in Hollywood. Despite how hard her haters and the media tries to make it look like Angelina is a bitch who doesn’t have any friends, not liked nor respected in Hollywood – in fact it’s the opposite. She is well loved, admired and respected and also has several genuine female and male friendships. The difference between Angelina and other actresses is that neither Angelina not her friends ever namedrop each other, goes on annual holidays to pap haven or are only together because of the fact they share the same agent.
PS: Jada looks really good her and natural as well.
The Angelina thing…I think most A-list celebrities/couples are aware that the press latches onto any connections they have with other A-listers and never lets go. One throw-away comment can lead to years of claims you’re BFF’s with someone and lot’s of stories that wouldn’t otherwise get written.
Look at the George and Brad thing. They clearly aren’t more than occasional colleagues on good terms. But the press uses their imaginary ‘close friendship’ to write a lot of stories they probably wouldn’t bother with otherwise. For example you can get a lot of mileage out of Brad’s (made up) opinion on George’s wedding, whereas it would be hard to drum up interest in a single story about Randy Gerber’s or Richard Kind’s opinion on George’s wedding.
She’s just shutting down that silliness before it can begin.
I thought that she had cheek implants, too…and, I’ve seen pictures of her in a bikini…she does more than 20 minutes of cardio a day! I wish she would be honest, because, whatever she IS doing, is working…she looks great!
I’m more the Judge Judy type of Mom about teens….if their lips are moving, they are ususally lying! lol
Yeah, she’s full of it about the exercise. Why do people do that?
So I guess Jada’s mother is a liar as well since she basically has said the same thing.Jada is fortunate her body and skin look good because of her genes.She bought her hair and her cheeks
Im sure the tabloids will claim she has a lesbian fling with Angie or a catfight in a few weeks.
I believe her. It’s not so much how long you’re doing cardio, but how hard you’re working, at least in terms of fat-burning. In other words, a short run completed with maximum effort (running as fast as you possibly can) is more beneficial for heart-rate and fat-burning than a long run completed at a comfortable pace.
I also think she has a body similar to Sarah Jessica Parker’s in the sense that they are small-framed, naturally lean and tend towards the muscular side.
A 20 minute cardio effort would give you almost no warm up, and no cool down, and for you to reap that many benefits from just 20 minutes you’d have to be ALL OUT the whole time, which is very unlikely. And even then, you’d be lucky to burn 400 calories, which isnt exactly going to make a big dent if you’re still eating whatever you want.
I believe her body is natural and her skin are natural, she’s got skin that won’t age for years…but I DO think she’s had implants in her cheeks. I’m not sure why she decided to do it(if she did) because Jada has always been a stunning woman.
I think she doesn’t want it to sound like she is name dropping and wanting the media to be all “Jada and Angelina are friends” when they are not it would have been awkward. I like that she clarified I bet many people would have jumped on that opportunity and made it seem as if they were friends or something.
Jada does have great skin. I doubt that she hates Angelina. I think she said they weren’t friends because she didn’t want to make something out of nothing. Tabloids like to say people who met just once are best friends or dating. Jada probably just wanted to nip it in the bud before it got out of control. But it backfired because now people are saying she hates her.
So because she couldn’t control everything her goddaughter did, she decided to just let her 2 young kids run wild with no rules at all?
She is in great shape, but she must have work done on her face to get that tight, pinched look.
I like the point you guys are making about how she doesn’t want the media to latch onto any perceived connection she has with Angelina and how she’s not namedropping. I’ll add that to the story!
I saw some commercials for Gotham recently, and I thought it looked good. I didn’t recognize JPS though until they said it was her. She looks more like herself on that cover despite that ridiculous pose. And 20 minutes of cardio isn’t enough alone to undo the kind of carb eating I’m capable of.
But Jada has always been tiny, she’s never been any bigger. She’s petite naturally. iMO
I know that her genes give her great skin already, and she has a smaller bust, but I have to comment…Looking at her chest’s skin and then remembering other sun loving actresses’ one can see a great difference, not a wrinkle!
Probably sleeping on the side does not help either.
Her comments on how she’s raising her kids without heavy constriction are interesting. I was raised by parents who were the complete opposite. It was NO to everything, I had to plead for every kind of tiny freedom, they wouldn’t let me learn to drive, to date, to wear make-up, nothing. So by the time I hit adult-hood I was afraid of everything, easy prey for vultures because I was so naïve, and completely lacking in self-esteem. My twenties were a mess, I was a mess. Took me a long time to figure it all out.
So there’s a balance there between allowing your kids to fly and keeping them safe, but I have to agree with her statement that it’s best to let kids learn to put boundaries on themselves, as long as there’s guidance and a safety net there.
I think that it depends a lot on he child. some do fine with that approach, but others might need more involved parents not necessarily restrictive, but the child might need that.
I also think that nowadays, probably due to that restrictive upbringing, many parents are afraid of discipline, or they plainly cannot find the right balance and the children end up thinking they command their parents, and in many cases they do!
I know about a 12 yr old child who sends their parents to do his errands (going for a snack to the corner store, while he watches TV!), he is rude as it comes with his family, but he is nice to teachers, probably teachers treat him differently than his parents do?
I don’t think Jada is aging particularly well if you look at her contemporaries Sanaa Latham, Nia Long, Queen Latifah, Jlo, Taraji p. Henson, Tisha Campbell, Eva Mendez, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, Halle Berry is slightly older, Paula Patton slightly younger.
She has done multiple magazine interviews stating food really isn’t that important to her and she never really got into cooking. She has previously expressed that she views food only as fuel and not a source of pleasure. Jada keeps herself lean by not eating much.
I think she and son Jaden share a naturally pinched kind of facial features but I do believe she had some kind of injectables in her cheek area last year. Black blogs were asking what’s going on with Jadas face. Will is aging too but blogs and magazines don’t focus on that.
Still they look to be firm trim and in good health for any age. That’s the important thing.
Manface