Will and Jada Pinkett Smith make up one of the most famous and long-lasting relationships in Hollywood, but the road hasn’t been a conventional one. They’ve been married for 23 years, and have both been remarkably open about both the struggles and the triumphs of their strong union over the years.
Will, 53, and Jada, 50, first met when she auditioned for the role of his girlfriend on his beloved ’90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, though she didn’t get the part. However, in an October 2018 episode of Jada’s Facebook Watch show, Red Table Talk, Will said that he actually immediately sensed they would have chemistry when he saw her on A Different World.
He revealed that he went to a taping to meet her, but that during the taping, he ended up falling for the woman that was with the man who was supposed to introduce him to Jada. The woman was none other than his first wife, Sheree Zampino, with whom he shares his 29-year-old son, Trey.
Will said he and Jada continued to run into each other years later in what he described as “near-misses,” and described sharing a deep connection with her one night when he spent time with her at a party thrown by Tisha Campbell and Duane Martin.
“We had that moment and we connected, but I was married,” he said.
Jada quickly clarified, “We did not have an affair when he was married, let’s be clear about that.”
Will said that just one day after the party, while at dinner with Sheree, he had a breakdown in the bathroom due to the realization that he wasn’t with the woman that he was supposed to be with, but would never consider getting a divorce from Sheree. However, Sheree later ended up filing for divorce from him, despite his reluctance to end the marriage.
A day after finally agreeing to sign the divorce papers, Will revealed he immediately called Jada, who at the time, had just moved out of L.A. and bought a farm in Baltimore, Maryland.
“‘Are you seeing anybody?'” he recalled asking her. “Uh, no … cool, you’re seeing me now. My dumb a** was like, ‘OK!” Jada added with a laugh.
The couple eventually got married on Dec. 31, 1997, in her hometown of Baltimore and Jada was three months pregnant with their son, Jaden, at the time. During their 2018 Red Table Talk episode, Jada said it was far from a fairy-tale situation.
