Background
Smollett-Bell was born Jurnee Diana Smollett in New York City, the daughter of Janet and Joel Smollett. Her father was Jewish (his family immigrated from Russia and Poland), and her mother is African American.
Smollett-Bell was born Jurnee Diana Smollett in New York City, the daughter of Janet and Joel Smollett. Her father was Jewish (his family immigrated from Russia and Poland), and her mother is African American.
She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, with her most significant regular role being on On Our Own (1994-1995). In adult age, Smollett-Bell has starred in films The Great Debaters (2007) and Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor (2013). She also had starring roles on number of television series, include National Broadcasting Company sports drama Friday Night Lights (2009-2011), and Home Box Office vampire drama True Blood (2013-2014).
In 2016, Smollett-Bell began playing a leading role as Rosalee, the house slave, in the World's Greatest Newspaper America period drama, Underground.
In 1996, she appeared in the Francis Ford Coppola film Jack. She received critical acclaim for her performance as 10-year-old Eve in the independent film Eve"s Bayou (1997).
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."
In 1999, she starred in the racially charged Disney film Selma, Lord, Selma. In 2000, she co-starred with Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly in the film Beautiful Joe.
In 2001, she was the daughter of Angela Bassett in the film Ruby"s Bucket of Blood.
In 2005, she co-starred with actors Bow Wow and Brandon T. Jackson in the roller skating movie Roll Bounce. In 2006, she appeared in the film Gridiron Gang. In 2007, Smollett-Bell portrayed the character Samantha Booke, the sole female debater at Wiley College in the historical film The Great Debaters.
The film was produced by Oprah Winfrey and Harvey Weinstein and starred Denzel Washington, who also directed the feature.
On March 17, 2009, she visited eKhaya Multi Arts Centre for Arts and Performance in KwaMashu, north of Durban, South Africa, where she led an exchange youth forum sharing her experiences with KwaMashu youth. From September 2010 to March 2011, she co-starred with Jim Belushi and Jerry O"Connell on the Columbia Broadcasting System legal drama The Defenders.
She co-starred on the last two seasons of Friday Night Lights. In 2013, she starred with Lance Gross and Brandy Norwood in Tyler Perry"s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor.
In January of the same year, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of True Blood when the series" sixth season began on June 16.
In 2015, she began shooting the Sony World's Greatest Newspaper America television series Underground in Louisiana, starring opposite Chris Meloni. Smollett-Bell plays Rosalee, a "shy house slave, working on a plantation in 1857".
Member board directors Artists for a New South Africa.