Jaden Smith

Jaden Christopher Syre Smith (born July 8, 1998) is an American rapper, singer, and actor. The son of Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith, he has received various accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an MTV Movie Award, a BET Award and a Young Artist Award. He has received a Grammy Award nomination, and has won two NAACP Image Awards and an Empire Award.

Smith made his film debut with his father Will in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness, and appeared with his father once more in the 2013 film After Earth. He also co-starred in the remake films The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), along with Keanu Reeves, and The Karate Kid (2010), with Jackie Chan. Following a three-year hiatus, he returned to acting in 2016, starring in the two-part Netflix series The Get Down, and voice-acting in the company's anime series, Neo Yokio.

As a recording artist, Smith first guest performed on Canadian singer Justin Bieber's 2010 single, "Never Say Never". Released for The Karate Kid's accompanying soundtrack, the song peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 and received quintuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). He later released multiple mixtapes, including CTV2 (2014). Following a three-year work effort, he signed with Roc Nation and Interscope Records to release his debut studio album, Syre (2017). It peaked at number 24 on the Billboard 200, while his second and third albums, Erys (2019) and CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3 (2020), peaked at numbers 12 and 44, respectively. In 2022, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year as a featured artist on Bieber's album Justice.

Jaden Christopher Syre Smith was born July 8, 1998, in Malibu, California, the son of actors Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith. He has an older half-brother, Trey Smith (b. 1992) and a younger sister, Willow Smith (b. 2000). He attended New Village Leadership Academy before being homeschooled by his parents. Growing up, his fame and his family's celebrity status prevented him from having a normal childhood, something he has spoken on at length. He took up skateboarding.

Smith and his siblings were youth ambassadors for Project Zambi, which, in conjunction with Hasbro, helps Zambian children orphaned by AIDS.

Smith made his major role debut in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness as Christopher, the son of Chris Gardner, Will Smith's character. For the role, he won the Breakthrough Performance award at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. He next appeared as Jacob in the 2008 Scott Derrickson science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, a remake of the 1951 classic of the same name.

In 2010, with Jackie Chan, Smith starred in The Karate Kid, a remake of the 1984 film. In May 2013, Will Smith and Jaden starred together, as father and son, in After Earth. In 2014, it was announced that Smith would return for the sequel Karate Kid 2 with Jackie Chan, to be directed by Breck Eisner, produced by James Lassiter and Will Smith, and written by Zak Penn.

In April 2014, Smith was cast in the film The Good Lord Bird, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by James McBride. Smith plays Henry Shackleford, a young slave living in Kansas Territory in 1857 who encounters abolitionist John Brown.