Jada Pinkett Smith sheds light on her special friendship with Tom Cruise in her new book.
Moment VenerableThe book chronicles Pinkett Smith’s journey from Baltimore to Hollywood and beyond. mission impossible star – and dirt bikes.
“Early on in our friendship, Tom and I learned that we shared a love of motorcycles, and I was thrilled when we planned to ride on his dirt bike track,” the 52-year-old actor writes. “While I was enjoying the ride, I had no qualms about trying to jump off a small ramp, just feeling the thrill of catching the air. The problem was, after going up, the bike and I crashed to the ground and I couldn’t manage to get the bike down.”
“As soon as I hit the ground, I was thrown off the bike and fell flat on my back, hitting my head hard. Thank God I had a helmet.”
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To create The star says she ran over to Cruise, 61, to make sure he was okay: “He was relieved but worried, Tom told me I had a good drive but needed to stop for the day.”
“I looked at him with my elbows close to me and asked him and myself a really important question: ‘How many times have you reminded me not to let fear get in the way? If I don’t get on this bike and ride it one more time right now, I may never ride a bike again.’”
He writes that Cruise then “showed the biggest smile” and told him, “‘Okay, one more lap.'”
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Pinkett Smith starred opposite Cruise and Jamie Foxx in the 2004 Oscar-nominated hit. GuaranteeDirected by Michael Mann.
Inside Venerableshares more details about friendship with super weapon then the beginning actor – and why did he need this courage to make another attempt in his footsteps?
“I was so scared to get back on that bike,” she writes, “but the lesson was that it’s not about not being afraid when you have to push past the fear. It’s about finding the courage to do it anyway, even if you think you can’t.”
“It’s easier to find courage when someone trusts you, just like Tom and I ride my bike,” Pinkett Smith continues.
Cruise, he says, has the ability to see what he calls “a great move of always keeping everything together.” Without saying it, he noticed moments when I felt much less valuable.
She remembers Cruise “looking me in the eye” whenever they went out to press or premieres together. [and say], ‘Never forget how smart and talented you are. “Now go out and make someone smile because you shook their hand on the red carpet today.”
“This was very helpful. All I had to do was conquer my fear.”
In the same episode titled “Wild Banshee,” Pinkett Smith details how Will Smith, her husband of 25 years, similarly encouraged her not to stop touring with her rock band Wicked Wisdom after seeking medical advice.
His memory of riding a dirt bike with Cruise “reinforced the idea that it wasn’t about proving something to other people, it was about proving to myself that I could finish what I started,” he writes.
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Her memoir isn’t the first time Pinkett Smith has expressed her gratitude for her friendship with Cruise. “I used to believe I wasn’t beautiful because growing up I was never told that I was,” she said in a 2011 interview. Red Book magazine. “It was Tom Cruise who taught me how to get rid of these doubts.”
“He said, ‘Whenever I compliment you, you always reject it. You should stop doing this. Just say “Thank you.” So I learned to accept compliments.”
Venerable It is now available wherever books are sold.