Her other acting roles include Magic Mike XXL (2015), Bad Moms (2016), Girls Trip (2017), and The Matrix Resurrections (2021).

Her parents are Adrienne Banfield-Norris, the head nurse of a Baltimore inner-city clinic, and Robsol Pinkett Jr., who ran a construction company.

(1991) and 21 Jump Street (1991), and earned a role on comedian Bill Cosby's NBC television sitcom A Different World in 1991, as college freshman Lena James.

In his positive review of the film, Roger Ebert wrote, "[Payne] has powerful chemistry with the enigmatic, teasing, tender character played by Pinkett; they really seem to like one another, which is not a feeling you always pick up in screen romances.

[34] According to Larenz Tate, Pinkett was set to appear in the film Dead Presidents (1995), but she turned down the role of Delilah due to her loyalty to Shakur.

[42][43] She also had a lead role in Set It Off (1996), a crime drama about four women who rob banks to escape from poverty, opposite Queen Latifah, Vivica A.

In 1998, she played a news reporter in the thriller Return to Paradise, with Joaquin Phoenix and Vince Vaughn, and took on the title role of an extroverted woman, alongside Tommy Davidson, in the comedy Woo.

While favorably reviewing her performance in Woo, Derek Armstrong of AllMovie wrote that the script was "formulaic" and "not much of a vehicle for its impish starlet".

[47] In 2001, Pinkett Smith portrayed a loud-mouthed wife in the moderately successful comedy Kingdom Come, with LL Cool J, Vivica A.

[51][52] In the neonoir thriller Collateral (2004), alongside Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise, Pinkett Smith played a U.S. Justice Department prosecutor and the target of a contract killer.

[58] In 2007, she played the wife of an affluent dentist in the drama Reign Over Me, with Adam Sandler, Don Cheadle, Liv Tyler, and Donald Sutherland.

Entertainment Weekly called the film a "strange, black-and-blue therapeutic drama equally mottled with likable good intentions and agitating clumsiness", and found Pinkett Smith "graceful" in it.

[59] In 2008, Pinkett Smith took on the role of a lesbian author in the all-female comedy The Women, opposite Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, and Eva Mendes.

[60] Though a commercial success, The Women was panned by critics, with Pinkett Smith earning a nomination for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress for her performance.

Her directorial debut was the drama The Human Contract (also 2008); she also wrote it, and starred as the sister of a successful but unhappy businessman, with Paz Vega and Idris Elba.

[62] Pinkett Smith was an executive producer and starred as a Chief Nursing Officer in the TNT medical drama Hawthorne, which premiered on June 16, 2009.

[70] She starred with Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Christina Applegate in the comedy Bad Moms (2016), as the sidekick of a domineering parent-teacher association head.

[73] Pinkett Smith next took on the role of a nurse and uptight mom in the comedy Girls Trip (2017), alongside Regina Hall, Queen Latifah, and Tiffany Haddish.

[78] In a positive review, USA Today's Maeve McDermott praised the series for its "insightful guests, no-holds-barred topics and Smith's magnetic hosting presence".

[79] In 2021, Time magazine named Pinkett Smith and her co-hosts to its list of the 100 most influential people in the world; they were chosen by comedian Tiffany Haddish.

It also offers insight to her difficult childhood, friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur, unconventional marriage, and her reaction to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars.

[87] The band's self-titled debut album was released on February 21, 2006, by Pinkett Smith's production company 100% Womon and Suburban Noize Records.

"[93] Wicked Wisdom's guitarist Pocket Honore said while early dates of the tour were rocky, "once word got out that we weren't a joke, people started coming out and by the sixth or seventh gig we were on fire".

The clothing line features women's T-shirts and dresses embellished with the slogan "Sister Power", sold primarily through small catalogs.

"[94] In 2005, Pinkett Smith became one of many celebrities to invest a combined total of US$10 million in Carol's Daughter, a line of beauty products created by Lisa Price.

[115] In 2013, she appeared in a video clip for Gucci's "Chime for Change" campaign that aims to raise funds and awareness of women's issues globally.

[117][118] Pinkett Smith had a close friendship with rapper Tupac Shakur which was formed when they were attending the Baltimore School for the Arts.

[129] She shared a video on her Instagram account in December 2021 showing herself with a shaved head, saying: "Now at this point, I can only laugh" (...) "Mama's gonna have to take it down to the scalp so nobody thinks she got brain surgery or something.

[146] In April 2013, Pinkett Smith caused many to believe she and her husband were in an open marriage after stating in an interview: "I've always told Will, 'You can do whatever you want as long as you can look at yourself in the mirror and be okay'.

[147] On July 10, during an episode of Red Table Talk featuring her husband, Pinkett Smith confirmed an "entanglement" with Alsina during their separation, although not with his permission.