Jada Pinkett Smith hopes movie will help drive for more women of colour in film

Jada Pinkett Smith said that she hopes her latest comedy film is part of a turning point for black women in film.

She stars alongside Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish and Regina Hall, in Girls Trip, a movie about four friends who travel to a New Orleans festival for drink and passion-fuelled fun.

At the Los Angeles premiere on Thursday, the cast praised the film as one of the few major Hollywood movies to have the leading roles solely filled by women of colour.

Smith, who is 45 and married to actor Will Smith, said she hopes it builds momentum alongside Hidden Figures, the 2016 film about four black women mathematicians working for Nasa.

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“You have four African-Americans starring in this movie that is delivering material that’s not gender-specific or colour-specific,” she told the Press Association.

“And that this story is told through their lens, that is still something that is accessible to all women of all colours from all backgrounds and that it’s a movie that men can enjoy as well.”

Asked if she thinks it is a turning point for women of colour in films, she said: “I hope so. But I mean Hidden Figures did the same thing. I think we are moving into that direction.”

Hall, 46, said it will be an “extremely significant” moment if the film, which is released in the UK later this month, scores box-office success.

“I think to see four black women being able to lead a big ensemble cast and to be able to have all of them be able to do comedy and stuff we usually see guys doing… I think it is really significant and hopefully there will be more,” she added.