10 Strangest Actor Vanity Projects

By Tom Baker /

2. Jada Pinkett Smith's Metal Band

The star of such films as disparate as The Matrix Reloaded, Menace II Society and The Nutty Professor recently returned to screens after a bit of a break in Gotham, that TV show about Batman before he was Batman (spoilers: he's still a little bit like Batman, and all of his enemies are still around). Pinektt Smith's scenery-chewing performance has been one of the best on the show, and hints a her own vanity project. Yes, the chameleonic actor €“ and wife to Will Smith €“ is in a heavy metal band. Not only that, but she's the lead singer in a heavy metal band. Not only that, but the heavy metal band is actually successful. Musical side projects by actors are a dime a dozen, and usually just mediocre (like Keanu Reeves's) or straight-up terrible (Robert Mitchum, you racist). Wicked Wisdom are anything but. Well, it depends on what you think of metal as a genre, but Pinkett Smith's band seems to do all right. They played at Ozzfest by invitation of Sharon Osboune, their two albums have received good reviews €“ especially for the singing €“ and for a while, it seemed like she might get bigger in the music world than cinema.