Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986)[1] is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including On Our Own (1994–1995) and Full House (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition with her role in Kasi Lemmons's independent film Eve's Bayou (1997), which earned her a Critics' Choice Movie Award.
Jurnee Diana Smollett was born in New York City,[2] to Janet Harris and Joel Smollett. Her father was AshkenaziJewish, with ancestors from Russia and Poland,[3][4][5] while her mother is African American.[6][7][8] She is the fourth of six siblings, all performers:[9] one sister, Jazz Smollett,[10] and four brothers, Jussie, JoJo, Jake, and Jocqui.
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] From 2013 to 2014, she was a regular on the HBO series True Blood.[17] 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.[18][19]
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.[20] She portrayed Black Canary in the 2020 film Birds of Prey,[21][22] and Letitia "Leti" Lewis in the 2020 HBO series Lovecraft Country.[23] In August 2021, it was revealed that Smollett will star in a solo Black Canary Movie from Warner Bros. and DC Films at HBO Max.[24] In November 2021, she joined Jamie Foxx and Tommy Lee Jones in Amazon Studios' courtroom drama project The Burial directed by Maggie Betts.[25] In 2022, she executive produced and co-starred in the Netflix thriller film, Lou.[26]
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.[27] 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.[28] Smollett was also on the board of directors for the Children’s Defense Fund in 2020.[29]
On October 24, 2010, Smollett married musician Josiah Bell.[30] Their only child, a son named Hunter, was born on October 31, 2016, as a surprise given the two were living in separate homes and considering divorce.[31] In March 2020, Smollett filed for divorce after years of being legally separated,[32] which was finalized in August 2021.[33]
^"Board of Directors". Children's Defense Fund. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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