Jurnee Smollett

Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) is an American actress. Smollett began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including On Our Own (1994–1995) and Full House (1992–1994). She received critical acclaim and Critic's Choice Award for playing Eve in the 1997 independent drama film Eve's Bayou.

Jurnee Smollett
Smollett at the New York ComicCon, 2015
Born	Jurnee Diana Smollett October 1, 1986 New York City, U.S.
Other names	Jurnee Smollett-Bell
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Spouse(s)	Josiah Bell ​ ​ (m. 2010; sep. 2020)​
Children	1
Relatives	Jussie Smollett (brother) Jake Smollett (brother)

As an adult, Smollett has starred in the films The Great Debaters (2007), Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013), and Birds of Prey (2020). Her television roles include the NBC sports drama Friday Night Lights (2009–2011), and the HBO vampire drama True Blood (2013–2014), the WGN America period drama Underground, and the HBO supernatural horror drama Lovecraft Country as Letitia Lewis.

Early life

Jurnee Diana Smollett was born in New York City,[1] to Janet Harris and Joel Smollett. Her father was Jewish, with ancestors from Russia and Poland,[2][3][4] while her mother is African American.[5][6][7] She is the fourth of six siblings, all performers:[8] one sister, Jazz, and four brothers, Jussie, JoJo, Jake, and Jocqui.

Career

Early works

Smollett began her acting career appearing on Martin and Out All Night in 1992. She then had recurring roles as Denise Frazer on the ABC family sitcoms Full House and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.[9] From 1994 to 1995, she co-starred with her siblings in the short-lived ABC sitcom On Our Own. In 1996, she appeared in the Francis Ford Coppola film Jack, making her big-screen debut.[9]

Smollett received critical acclaim for her performance as 10-year-old Eve in the 1997 film Eve's Bayou opposite Lynn Whitfield, Samuel L. Jackson and Debbi Morgan.[10][11] In casting the role, writer-director Kasi Lemmons envisioned "a light-skinned black child who could convey the nuances of a Creole child in the 60s."[8] She received the Critic's Choice Award and was nominated for a NAACP Image Award.[12] The following year, she joined the cast of the CBS sitcom Cosby, for which she won two NAACP Image Awards.[12] In 1999, Smollett starred in the ABC TV film Selma, Lord, Selma. In 2000, she co-starred with Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly in the film Beautiful Joe. In 2001, she played the daughter of Angela Bassett in the television film Ruby's Bucket of Blood. In 2005, she co-starred with Bow Wow and Brandon T. Jackson in the roller skating film Roll Bounce. In 2006, she appeared in the drama film Gridiron Gang.[13]

2007–present

In 2007, Smollett portrayed Samantha Booke (loosely based on Henrietta Bell Wells), the sole female debater at Wiley College in the historical film The Great Debaters.[14] The film was produced by Oprah Winfrey and Harvey Weinstein and starred Denzel Washington, who also directed the feature. For her performance, Smollett received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture. The following year, she returned to television, appearing in two episodes of ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. From 2009 to 2011, she was a regular cast member in the DirecTV drama series Friday Night Lights playing Jess Merriweather. From 2010 to 2011, she also co-starred with Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell on the short-lived CBS legal drama The Defenders. From 2013 to 2014, she was regular on HBO series True Blood.[15]

In 2013, Smollett played the leading role in the drama film Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor directed by Tyler Perry. The film received negative reviews from critics, but was a box-office hit, grossing $53,125,354. It is the highest-grossing Tyler Perry film which the writer-director did not star in, and the highest-grossing Tyler Perry drama.[16] She later played Juanita Leonard, the wife of boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, in the 2016 biographical sport film Hands of Stone co-starring with Usher and Robert De Niro.[17][18]

In 2015, Smollett was cast as lead character in the WGN America period drama series Underground. Smollett played Rosalee, a shy house slave working on a plantation in 1857.[19] She portrayed Black Canary in the 2020 film Birds of Prey,[20][21] and Letitia "Leti" Lewis in the 2020 HBO series Lovecraft Country.[22]

Personal life

Smollett has been active in HIV/AIDS causes since she was 11. Her first encounter with the disease came at age seven when a crew member of On Our Own died of AIDS.[23] She was inspired by the HIV/AIDS survivor Hydeia Broadbent, with whom she eventually worked for HIV/AIDS awareness, including for the Black AIDS Institute and Red Cross. She spoke at the Ryan White Youth Conference, and is on the Board of Directors of Artists for a New South Africa, an organization dedicated to HIV/AIDS in Africa.[24] Smollett is also on the Board of Directors for the Children’s Defense Fund.[25]

On October 24, 2010, Smollett married musician Josiah Bell.[26] Their first child, a son named Hunter, was born on October 31, 2016.[27] In March 2020, Smollett filed for divorce.[28]

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1996	Jack	Phoebe
1997	Eve's Bayou	Eve Batiste
2000	Beautiful Joe	Vivien
2005	Roll Bounce	Tori Turner
2006	Gridiron Gang	Danyelle Rollins
2007	The Great Debaters	Samantha Booke
2012	Captain Planet 4	Gaia	Short film
2013	Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor	Judith
2016	Hands of Stone	Juanita Leonard
2018	One Last Thing	Lucy Dillinger
2020	Birds of Prey	Dinah Lance / Black Canary
2021	Escape from Spiderhead		Filming

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1992	Out All Night	Laquita	Episode: "The Kid"
1992–1994	Full House	Denise Frazer	12 episodes
1992	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Denise Frazer	4 episodes
1992	Martin	Little Girl	Episode: "I Saw Gina Kissing Santa Claus"
1994–1995	On Our Own	Jordee Jerrico	Series regular (20 episodes)
1996	NYPD Blue	Hanna	Episode: "Where's 'Swaldo"
1998–2000	Cosby	Jurnee	Series regular (8 episodes)
1999	Selma, Lord, Selma	Sheyann Webb	Television film
1999	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child	Ali Baba	Episode: "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves"
2001	Ruby's Bucket of Blood	Emerald Delacroix	Television film
2002	Strong Medicine	Ruby	Episode: "Positive"
2002	ER	Romy	Episode: "Next of Kin"
2003	Wanda at Large	Holly Hawkins	Series regular (6 episodes)
2006	House	Tracy	Episode: "Fools for Love"
2008	Grey's Anatomy	Beth	2 episodes
2009–2011	Friday Night Lights	Jess Merriweather	Series regular (26 episodes)
2010–2011	The Defenders	Lisa Tyler	Series regular (18 episodes)
2012–2013	The Mob Doctor	Traci Coolidge	2 episodes
2013–2014	True Blood	Nicole Wright	Series regular (19 episodes)
2013	Do No Harm	Abby Young	2 episodes
2013	Parenthood	Heather Hall	7 episodes
2016–2017	Underground	Rosalee	Series regular (19 episodes)
2020	The Twilight Zone	Jasmine Delancey	Episode: "Ovation"
2020–present	Lovecraft Country	Letitia "Leti" Lewis	Series regular

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result
1995	Young Artist Awards	Best Performance by an Actress Under Ten in a TV Series	On Our Own	Nominated
1997	Critics' Choice Movie Awards	Best Young Performer	Eve's Bayou	Won
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Supporting Actress		Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Most Promising Actress		Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress		Nominated
	Young Artist Awards	Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film		Nominated
1998	YoungStar Awards	Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film		Nominated
1999	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress: Television Movie/Cable	Selma, Lord, Selma	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress	Cosby	Nominated
2000				Nominated
2001	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress: Television Movie/Cable	Ruby's Bucket of Blood	Nominated
2007	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Breakout Female	The Great Debaters	Nominated
2008	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture		Won
2010		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Friday Night Lights	Nominated
2021	Critics' Choice Super Awards	Best Actress in a Superhero Movie	Birds of Prey	Nominated
		Best Actress in a Horror Series	Lovecraft Country	Won
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Drama Series		Pending

References

1. "Jurnee Smollett Bio". BET. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
2. Ryzik, Melena (March 9, 2016). "The Smollett Family Business: Acting and Activism". The New York Times. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
3. Shepard, Linda (January 21, 2015). "Actress aims to keep 'Dream' alive". C & G Newspapers. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
4. Bloom, Nate (March 18, 2016). "Celebrity jews". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
5. Garmel, Marion (1994-09-06). "You're never on your own in a big family". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
6. "What a nice Girl". Hot Sauce. April 1, 2008. Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2015-02-19.
7. RandomTandem (2010-12-31). "New Artist Alert: Jussie Smollett". Random Tandem. Archived from the original on 2014-05-04. Retrieved 2014-05-03.
8. Lena Williams (November 2, 1997). "Up and Coming - Jurnee Smollett - Calm Child at the Center of an Adult Storm". The New York Times. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
9. "Jurnee Smollett". Hollywood.com. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
10. "Eve's Bayou". 1 June 1996. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
11. Roger Ebert (7 November 1997). "Eve's Bayou". Retrieved 9 May 2016.
12. "Jurnee Smollett". IMDb.
13. "Gridiron Gang". Sep 15, 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
14. "The Great Debaters". 25 December 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
15. EvanDickson. "Two Ladies Move Into Bon Temps For Some 'True Blood'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
16. "Tyler Perry's Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
17. "Usher & Jurnee Smollett gear up in Panama to film 'Hands of Stone'". MStarsNews. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
18. "Hands of Stone trailer: Robert De Niro coaches Edgar Ramirez". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
19. Cynthia Littleton (February 27, 2015). "WGN America Gives Series Order to Slavery Drama 'Underground'". Variety.
20. Couch, Aaron; McMillan, Graeme (November 20, 2018). "Margot Robbie Reveals Full 'Birds of Prey' Title: 'The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2019-03-02. Retrieved November 20, 2018.
21. D'Alessandro, Anthony (September 26, 2018). "'Birds Of Prey' Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Wins Role Of Huntress; Jurnee Smollett-Bell Is Black Canary". Deadline. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
22. Yap, Audrey Cleo (2020-08-16). "'Lovecraft Country' Star Jurnee Smollett and Creator Misha Green on If They Would Reteam for a Black Canary Project". Variety. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
23. "Cover Story". Art & Understanding Magazine. August 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-06-12. (AIDS-related issues magazine)
24. "Board of Directors". ANSA. Archived from the original on 2007-08-19.
25. "Board of Directors". Children's Defense Fund. Archived from the original on 2020-04-13. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
26. Zuckerman, Blaine (December 16, 2010). "See Friday Night Lights's Jurnee Smollett's Wedding Photo". People.
27. Mizoguchi, Karen. "Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Husband Josiah Welcome First Child, Son Hunter Zion". People.
28. Hearon, Sarah (March 27, 2020). "Jurnee Smollett Files for Divorce From Josiah Bell After Nearly 10 Years of Marriage". Us Weekly. Retrieved August 17, 2020.

External links

• Jurnee Smollett at IMDb