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Did you know that Jada Pinkett Smith is in Magic Mike XXL? She plays a club owner who announces the acts. Other lucky bitches in this movie include Elizabeth Banks, Amber Heard and Andie MacDowell. (Love her!) I know the plot is not going to be exceptional, but I’ll be watching it for the cinematography.

Jada did an interview with Howard Stern in which she talked about Magic Mike XXL, her role on Gotham, her relationship with Tupac (?!) and her marriage to Will. The quotes about Will are getting the most press of course, and she’s said similar things about their relationship many times in the past. Say what you will about Will and Jada, they will tell you how they parent and they will tell you about their relationship. (Sometimes they reveal too much.) Here’s some of what Jada told Howard, and you can read more and hear excerpts on Howard Stern’s site.

On her marriage to Will Smith
Thank God I have a husband who is just a gangster partner. Can you imagine taking that road together from 25 to 44? It takes work Howard.

You’ve got to trust who you’re with. At the end of the day, I’m not here to be anybody’s watcher. He’s a grown man. I trust that the man that Will is a man of integrity. He’s got all the freedom in the world. As long as Will can look himself in the mirror and be ok, I’m good.

On if Will tells her about crushes
Absolutely. You have to in this business. I’m going to know anyway… just because your man is attracted to another woman does not mean he doesn’t love you [and it] does not mean he’s gonna act on it. If your man cannot see another woman’s beauty how the hell is he gonna see yours?

Tupac was her friend while they were growing up in Baltimore
[There] was no physical chemistry between us at all. It wasn’t just me. [We kissed] It had to be the most disgusting kiss for us both. The higher power just did not want that. If Pac and I had any kind of sexual chemistry we might have killed each other. We are both passionate… it was hard enough just with us being friends. We had a very volatile relationship…

I had never in my life met a person like Pac. He had so much charisma and he was poor. When I met Pac he owned two pair of pants and two sweaters. He used to tell me all the time “Jada, you’re a superstar.” He didn’t say it about himself.

Tupac changed after he came out of jail & they stopped speaking
Jail was a very difficult experience for him. Of course we were on two sides of the spectrum. Pac and I have always had very intense conversations… we had a very hardcore disagreement. I just wasn’t in agreement with the direction he was taking. I told him it was a destructive direction. He felt as though I had changed, I had gone Hollywood.

Howard asked her if she felt guilty when Tupac was murdered
I don’t think if I was guilty as much as I felt just sadness for not having the opportunity to tell him that I loved him. But I know he knew that. It wasn’t the first time that we had had a bad argument and had stopped speaking and all that. That was kind of a constant in our relationship… It definitely taught me a lesson. Life is too short. Do not let disagreements stand in between you and people that you love and care about. [Howard pointed out that she had tears in her eyes.]

[From Howard Stern]

Many of you will already know about Jada’s friendship with Tupac (Howard Stern’s site has photos of them together), which is something that I probably heard about but that didn’t stick with me. The way she talked about him really moved me, especially when she said that he would have achieved so much more if he had lived.

It’s rare that I hear a celebrity interview and come away feeling like I heard something genuine and real, but I got that from this interview. Jada is a take no prisoners type of person. I’m not a big fan of hers, I didn’t particularly like her character on Gotham when I watched the show (until about halfway through the season) and in general she makes a lot of statements that I don’t agree with (not in this interview) but she will tell you how it is. There’s something so admirable about that. I’m not even side-eyeing her thoughts about Will. Whatever they have going on seems to work for them.

Look at how tall Willow is here! It’s the shoes but still.

photo credit: Getty and WENN.com