Jada Pinkett Smith & Queen Latifah Share Advice They'd Give Their 15-Year-Old Selves

Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah make an appearance at the 2017 Essence Festival held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on Friday (June 30) in New Orleans, La.

The Girls Trip co-stars were joined on a panel by music stars Mary J. Blige and Monica, comedian Niecy Nash, Planned Parenthood’s Kristi Henderson, director Dee Rees, and moderator Tamron Hall.

The ladies were asked to share the advice they’d give to their 15-year-old selves.

“Love yourself because people will love you for who you are in the future,” Queen said. “It’s a tough question to answer because I don’t know anything other than this journey. I’d probably tell my 15-year-old self, ‘Yo, you’re gonna be in a movie with Jada Pinkett.’”

“I would just basically tell myself that it’s okay. At 15-years-old it was rough and I brought a lot of pain out of my childhood into my adulthood that I’m just now dissolving. And, that pain held me back and I wish I had know then that pain is just a part of your journey and it’s not because you’ve done something wrong or because you’re cursed or you’re a bad person, we’re all going through it,” Jada said. “We all have pain, we all have a story. And, so, all we need to do is support each other through it and I wish I had know that, Jada, it’s just a part of it, baby. It’s going to be okay.”

FYI: Jada is wearing a Valentino dress and Yossi Harari earrings.