Jada Pinkett-Smith in "Madagascar"

Jada Pinkett-Smith can be called many things — actress, humanitarian, musician, wife of one of the biggest stars on Earth (that being Will Smith.)

But she's also a hippo. At least, she is in the land of animation, playing Gloria the Hippo again in the sequel to the 2005 hit "Madagascar," out today. This time, she and the other characters crash-land in Africa, allowing her to meet other hippos.

"She realizes there are others like her and she finds a love interest" in a studly male hippo played by hip-hop star Will.i.am, Pinkett-Smith said in a brief interview last week to promote the film. "But she realizes love isn't about what the package looks like but what lies underneath."

OK, that's your typical "Shrek"-like kids message. And in the real world, Pinkett-Smith is actually a tiny 5-foot-tall package. But the irony hasn't resulted in a lot of jokes, not even from her kids, she said.

Pinkett-Smith, always a film actress and producer up to this point, finally found an in-front-of-the-camera TV role she found truly compelling: playing a widow and nurse on a new drama on Atlanta-based TNT called "Time Heals."

"The character has a fantastic ability to take care of others but she has to learn how to take care of herself," she said. The drama is set to be seen next year.

She also greatly admires Atlanta producer extraordinaire Tyler Perry: "He's very smart. I just love what he's done." Pinkett-Smith has yet to be offered a role in a Perry film but said she'd be willing to work with him if it were the right role

"I am finicky," she noted. "But I'm sure he and I will work together in the future."

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