Renée Felice Smith (born January 16, 1985)[1] is an American actress. She is known for portraying Nell Jones on NCIS: Los Angeles, since joining the series in 2010 and played the character until 2019 when she left the show after season 11 but did appear as a guest in the season 12 premiere.
Renée Felice Smith | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Smith in 2012 | |
| Born | January 16, 1985 New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, producer |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Television | NCIS: Los Angeles |
Early life
editSmith was born in New York City of mixed Irish-Italian descent.[2] She attended Patchogue-Medford High School on Long Island, New York, as well as the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, graduating with honors, double majoring in journalism and minoring in history,[3] Stonestreet Studios Conservatory and the Lee Strasberg Institute.[4]
While at NYU, she co-created the student dance troupe, Pulse Dance Project.
Career
editSmith's first acting job was a national television commercial for Danone yogurt in 1991 at age six.[4]
Smith started off in theatre, having made her debut in Second Stage's Wildflower.[5] She was cast for a sitcom on The CW directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino, tentatively titled Wyoming, but only a pilot was produced since the project was not picked up by the network. The pilot movie is called The Wyoming Story.[6]
In 2010, Smith was cast to appear as Nell Jones on NCIS: Los Angeles. Initially planned to be only a recurring character, Smith's role was expanded to main cast after she impressed the producers with her acting.[7] Following the show's twelfth season, she left the show.[8] Smith reprised the role of Nell as a guest star in the series finale that aired in May 2023.[9]
In 2011, Smith appeared as a supporting character, Missy, in Detachment.[5] A year later she began co-creating with her partner Christopher Gabriel a children's book series based on her French bulldog, Hugo.[3]
In April 2014, Smith played the role of Frankie in Code Academy, a short sci-fi production in which young men and women are kept apart until a certain age[10] and in April 2015, she starred in the short film Baby, which she also produced and which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival.[citation needed]
Smith and her partner Christopher Gabriel co-directed their first feature film, The Relationtrip in 2017, which premiered at SXSW in March 2017.[11] In March 2021, Smith and Gabriel released their first picture book entitled, "Hugo and the Impossible Thing".[12]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Viralcom | Auditioner | Episode: "I Can't Believe I'm BritGirl16!" |
| 2010–2021; 2023 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Nell Jones | Main role; debuted in season 2, episode 4 Guest star; Episode: "New Beginnings, Part Two" |
| 2010 | The Wyoming Story | Dinah Thorpe | TV movie; unsold series pilot episode, "The Damn Thorpes" |
| 2015 | The Price Is Right | Herself | December 9, 2015[13] |
| 2017 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | Belle | Episode: "A Cricket's Tale" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Detachment | Missy | |
| 2014 | Nanny Cam | Jess | Also known as Sitter Cam |
| Code Academy | Frankie | Short film | |
| 2015 | Baby | Naomi | Short film; also as executive producer |
| 2017 | The Relationtrip | Beck | Also executive producer, writer and director Winner: Dallas International Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for Narrative Feature Competition[citation needed] Nominated:
|
| That Thing with the Cat! | Emma |
References
edit- ^ "Celebrity birthdays for the week of Jan. 15-21". WTOP. January 15, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
- ^ Adesina, Aisha (June 30, 2020). "Renée Felice Smith bio". www.legit.ng. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
- ^ a b "Who's in bed with - Renée Felice Smith". Tails Magazine. June 25, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
- ^ a b DiNicola, Krystle L. (July 26, 2011). "Patch chat: Renée Felice Smith". Patchogue.com. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
- ^ a b Mandell, Zack (March 15, 2012). "Interview with Renée Felice Smith who plays Missy in Tony Kaye's new film "Detachment"". Yahoo! Voices. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
- ^ Neumann, Carolin (November 2, 2010). "NCIS: Los Angeles befördert Datenanalystin Nell Jones" [NCIS: Los Angeles promotes data analyst Nell Jones]. Serienjunkies (in German). Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- ^ Leopardi, Fulvia (November 2, 2010). "Alan Dale in Undercovers; novità per Rookie Blue NCIS: LA, le serie tv dicono chi sei". Televisionando (in Italian). Retrieved February 27, 2012.
- ^ Ng, Philiana (May 24, 2021). "'NCIS: LA' Star Renee Felice Smith on Leaving the Series After 11 Seasons (Exclusive)". ETOnline.com. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ Rice, Lynette (May 21, 2023). "'NCIS: LA': How The Drama Ended Its 14-Season Run On CBS". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
- ^ Brown, Mark (March 18, 2015). "Love is ... five gay films going global in the name of human rights". The Guardian. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ Levielle, Kerry (March 10, 2017). "The Relationtrip Exclusive Clip". IndieWire. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- ^ "Hugo and the Impossible Thing by Renée Felice Smith, Chris Gabriel: 9780593204634 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books".
- ^ "YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
External links
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