Jada Pinkett Smith To Star In TNT Drama "Time Heals"

Actress Jada Pinkett Smith has signed on to play the lead in TNT's riveting drama pilot "Time Heals." She will play director of nursing Nancy Hawthorne, an unsung hero, caregiver and single mother who always puts the pain of others first. Celebrity News Service has learned that Emmy-winner John Masius (remember his great series "St. Elsewhere") has written the pilot script.

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"John Masius has created a beautifully drawn character, and we couldn't have wished for a better choice to play her than Jada. Nancy Hawthorne is incredibly dynamic, a nurse whose energy, self-sacrifice and heroism changes lives on a daily basis," said Michael Wright, senior vice president in charge of the Content Creation Group for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. "We are thrilled to have this wonderful actress on board for this very special drama."

"Time Heals" takes place at Charlotte Mercy Hospital in North Carolina, where the strong but caring Nancy Hawthorne, played by Pinkett Smith, continuously fights a battle she often knows she won't win. Whether treating the homeless woman in front of the hospital like a human being or trying to talk a suicidal cancer patient off the ledge, Nancy must challenge hospital administrators, heartless doctors, apathetic colleagues and a system that sometimes forgets it's there to serve the sick.

Recently widowed and the mother of a smart, willful teenager, Nancy juggles her career with her equally important role as a single parent. Between the two, she barely has time for herself and has difficulty keeping things together. But she knows she has to. She can't give up on anyone. That's what her passion requires; it's what it takes to be a hero.

Since making her film debut in the critically acclaimed "Menace II Society," Pinkett Smith has starred in a number of high-profile films, including "The Nutty Professor," "Collateral," "Reign Over Me," "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Set It Off." She co-starred opposite her husband, actor Will Smith, in Michael Mann's "Ali." She also is the voice of Gloria in the animated film "Madagascar" and the soon to be released "Madagascar 2". She can currently be seen in theaters in the comedy-drama "The Women," a remake of the 1939 classic.