Jada Pinkett Smith

Named after Jada Rowlands (As the World Turns; The Doctors), her mom's favorite soap actress. Rap-music legend Tupac Shakur was a high-school classmate and friend; they once made an amateur video in which she danced and he lip-synched to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince's "Parents Just Don't Understand." Runner-up in Hal Jackson's Talented Teens International contest in 1988. First met future husband Will Smith in 1990 when she auditioned for a role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Lead singer for the rock/metal band Wicked Wisdom, which opened for Britney Spears' Onyx Hotel Tour in 2004 and performed on the Ozzfest tour in 2005. The group released its first CD in 2006. A supporter of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, she and her husband hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo when Obama won the award in 2009. In 2010, won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for Hawthorne. ~ Rovi