Jada Pinkett Smith has broken an 18-year vow never to star in a TV show again, after deciding she'd become "complacent" as an actress.
Will Smith's wife found fame in 1980/90s show A Different World, but walked away from TV after two years because she hated the long hours and rigorous shoots.
Nearly two decades on, Pinkett Smith is returning to the small screen in hospital drama Hawthorne and she insists it's good practice for her as she prepares to step behind the camera for a director's role.
Explaining her decision, she says: "I vowed I would never go back to television because it was so hard. Just the pace, it was very intense. The long hours, 19 hours a day.
"But at this point in my life, I felt that I needed it. I needed a grind; I was getting complacent. There were a couple of skills that I needed to tighten - my producer skills, my storytelling skills, so I needed to get back in front of the camera so I could remember what actors need, because shortly I'll be directing. So this is a transitional period for me."