Jurnee Smollett

About

Jurnee Diana Smollett (born October 1, 1986) 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.
As an adult, Smollett 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), the WGN America period drama Underground (2016–2017), and the HBO fantasy horrors True Blood (2013–2014) and Lovecraft Country (2020), receiving a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for the latter.

Jurnee Diana Smollett was born on October 1, 1986 in New York City, to Janet Harris and Joel Smollett. Her father had ancestors from Russia and Poland, while her mother is African American. She is the fourth of six siblings, all performers: one sister, Jazz Smollett, and four brothers, Jussie, JoJo, Jake, and Jocqui.