Smollett was born in New York City, the daughter of Janet, a humanitarian and civil rights activist, and Joel Smollett. The fourth of six performing siblings, she received critical acclaim for her performance as ten-year-old Eve in the independent film Eve’s Bayou (1997). Smollett co-starred in the last two seasons of Friday Night Lights. Smollett was featured in the 1996 Francis Ford Coppola film Jack. She starred in the racially charged 1999 Disney film Selma, Lord, Selma.
