‘Without Remorse’ star Jodie Turner-Smith says she feared being ‘branded as difficult’ early in her career

• Jodie Turner-Smith is starring in the Amazon Prime Video film "Without Remorse," out Friday.
• She spoke with Insider about gaining the confidence to speak up in the workplace.
• "As women we're often told…we can't assert ourselves in a certain way for fear of being talked about."
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Jodie Turner-Smith navigates snipers and shady commanding officers as Lieutenant Commander Karen Greer in Tom Clancy's "Without Remorse."

In this origin story in the Jack Ryan universe, Michael B. Jordan portrays an elite Navy SEAL who avenges the death of his pregnant wife while uncovering an international conspiracy. In the action thriller, Turner-Smith's character is forced to endure mansplaining from colleagues with dismissive personalities and their own agendas.

The actress told Insider she can relate to what her character goes through. Now that Turner-Smith is heading into the second decade of her career, she's developed the confidence to ask for what she wants and speak up for what's right.

"I feel like I'm in a different place in my life now," Turner-Smith told Insider.

"In the beginning I was much more concerned with not rocking the boat," she admitted. "As women we're often told that we have to accept things, and we have to apologize for being in the space, and we can't assert ourselves in a certain way for fear of being talked about, disparaged, branded as difficult."

Turner-Smith points to maturity and motherhood for helping her brave professional hurdles with confidence.

"Becoming a mother has definitely given me the courage to be like, 'uh, uh!' Just the evolution that has happened for me in my life since I turned 30, I think has given me that courage," she said.

She's also following the example of her husband, fellow actor Joshua Jackson. Turner-Smith, who wed Jackson in 2019, said that watching her husband set boundaries and assert himself allowed her to see what it looks like to have unabashed confidence.

"There's something interesting about white men and the privileged way they walk through life," she added. "I choose to use it to inspire myself, you know? Because it really is inspiring sometimes to take that on and be like, you know what? Let me operate right now like as if I was a white man."

Turner-Smith wants to inspire their daughter Janie, whom she birthed last year while at her Los Angeles home, through the characters she chooses. The message she wants to send? Mistakes are OK; a lack of complexity is not.

"I think about what my daughter is going to see later," she told Insider. "The goal is just to play fully realized and thought out women, even if those women are flawed. "

"I'm just never going to play another woman who is not flawed in some way because of my daughter, you know? I think it's important for her to see that people make mistakes," Turner-Smith said. "You're not always going to choose the right thing...I want my daughter to see that things aren't always black and white and straight up and down."

While filming, Turner-Smith's daughter was on set as she was stabbing opponents and dodging sniper fire.

"I had a baby growing inside me that was making it hard to breathe, moving my organs around, making my body [a] temperature different than anybody else. Pregnancy is so full on," she recalled.

"That additional element of doing something so important and vital and energy-consuming as growing a life," she added, "it was intense."

Amazon Prime Video's "Without Remorse," also starring Lauren London and Colman Domingo, premieres Friday.