Jada Pinkett Smith reveals she felt "extremely suicidal" when she first found fame
“I had a complete emotional collapse”
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jada Pinkett Smith has opened up about feeling “extremely suicidal” at the beginning of her career in Hollywood.
During Mondays’ episode of 'Red Table Talk', the star’s Facebook Watch series, the 47-year-old spoke of the “nervous breakdown” she suffered when she moved from her native Baltimore to Los Angeles to become an actor.
“I had gotten to LA and gotten a certain amount of success and realised that that wasn’t the answer,” she told her co-hosts, mother Adrienne Banfield-Jones and daughter Willow Smith.
“[The success] wasn’t what was going to make everything okay. [It] actually made this worse.
“I was extremely suicidal, I had a complete emotional collapse.”
The Matrix Reloaded actor admitted that, in the early days of her career in show business, she struggled to understand her mental health issues.
The mother-of-two added: ‘It’s like when you just don’t have control over emotions, your thoughts, you feel completely and utterly out of control.
“I don’t even think at that particular time I understood what I was going through.”
She explained she has since learned to understand that she was suffering a nervous breakdown.
Her mother said she "absolutely understood" what her daughter was going through at the time.
Earlier this year, the actor – who is married to actor Will Smith – opened up about the depths of her depression which once saw her considering taking her own life.
Following the recent suicides of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, Ms Pinkett Smith took to Instagram to pay her respects and discuss her own mental health issues.
In the caption of a side-by-side photograph of Spade and Bourdain, the actress wrote: "One thing I’ve learned in my life over the years is that mental health is something we should practice daily, not just when issues arise."
She later added: "Mental health is a daily practice for me. It’s a practice of deep self-love. May Kate and Anthony Rest In Peace. Many may not understand… but I do, and this morning I have the deepest gratitude that I pulled through."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments