Who Is Will Smith’s Wife, Jada Pinkett Smith?
Hollywood is known for a lot of things, but long marriages are not one of them. It’s not uncommon for stars to meet, marry, and divorce in a short period of time. However, there’s at least one couple that defies this rule.
Will Smith, and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, have one of the longest marriages in Tinseltown. Who is Mrs. Smith, and what’s the secret to their long marriage? Keep reading to find out.
Who is Jada Pinkett Smith?
Pinkett Smith had a few small acting roles but did not gain widespread attention until 1996, when she starred opposite Eddie Murphy, in The Nutty Professor. Since then, she has starred in several major motion pictures, including, Set It Off, Scream 2, Ali, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions, Bad Moms, and Gotham.
How did Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith Meet?
The couple met when Pinkett Smith auditioned for the role of Smith’s girlfriend, on his hit show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In an amusing twist, Pinkett Smith was considered too short for the role (she’s 5’0 and Smith is 6’2), so she didn’t get the part on the show. However, the two started talking and hit it off. So, Pinkett Smith did get the role of a girlfriend in real life.
Smith was actually still married to his first wife, Sheree Zampino, when he started dating Pinkett Smith. In an interview with Access, Pinkett Smith commented on the situation, “He was ‘div,’ the ‘orced’ hadn’t happened yet,” she said, to indicate that Smith and Zampino were separated, and their marriage was over when he started dating Pinkett Smith. He just wasn’t officially divorced yet. Smith and Zampino share one son, Trey Smith, with who Pinkett Smith has taken on a step-mom role with.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s wedding
The couple was married in 1997, in what People described as “the most lavish and secretive celebrity wedding of the year.” Recently, in an episode of Pinkett Smith’s talkshow, Red Table Talk, entitled Becoming Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Pinkett Smith said that she never wanted to be married or have a wedding, but once she got pregnant, she felt pressured, in part by her mother, to tie the knot.
Pinkett Smith was three months pregnant with their son, Jaden Smith, at their wedding. She had constant morning sickness, and as her mother described it, “she was very unpleasant.” Pinkett Smith said: “I was so upset that I had to have a wedding. I was so pissed. I went crying down the freakin’ aisle getting married.”
What’s the Secret to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s long marriage?
Despite the less than ideal beginnings, and what the couple has described as a sometimes rocky marriage, they have managed to stay together for over 20 years. They now have two children, Jaden and Willow, plus Trey, from Smith’s first marriage.
Over the years, the couple has shared several secrets to how they have kept their marriage together for so long. Early on in their relationship, after a particularly brutal fight where Pinkett Smith had cursed at Smith, he spoke to her afterward and said he did not want them to speak to each other with disrespect. Now, if they have a disagreement, they wait until they are calm enough to discuss it rationally.
On their ten year anniversary, the couple appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where they stated that divorce wasn’t an option for them. Smith said, “We’re going to be together one way or the other, so we might as well try to be happy.” It seems their advice is good since they’re still going strong after all these years.
What’s Next for Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith?
Pinkett Smith is now busy with her new Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk. The show has received great reviews and is now in its second season. Smith is busy with two children’s movies set to release this year, Aladdin, a live-action remake of Disney’s classic, and an animated movie called, Spies in Disguise.
