Justice Elio Smith (born August 9, 1995) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'', '' Pokémon: Detective Pikachu'', and ''

All the Bright Places ''All the Bright Places'' is a young adult fiction novel by Jennifer Niven which is based on the author's personal story. The novel was first published on January 6, 2015 through Knopf Publishing Group and is Niven's first young adult book. A Al ...

''.

Early life

Smith was born in California. Smith graduated from the

Orange County School of the Arts Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA, ), is a 7th–12th grade public charter school located in downtown Santa Ana, California. The school caters to middle and high school students with talents in the performing, visual, literary arts, cul ...

in 2013 and has performed in shows around

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

Career

In 2014, Smith appeared in

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's superhero comedy series '' The Thundermans'', playing Angus in two episodes. He also appeared in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

's documentary series '' Masterclass'' and some '' VlogBrothers'' videos. In 2015, Smith had a supporting role as Marcus "Radar" Lincoln in ''

Paper Towns ''Paper Towns'' is a novel written by John Green, primarily for an audience of young adults, and was published on October 16, 2008, by Dutton Books. The novel is about the coming-of-age of the protagonist, Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and his search fo ...

''. The film was directed by

Jake Schreier Jacob Stacey Schreier (born September 29, 1981) is an American commercial, music video and film director. He was a founding member of Waverly Films, a Brooklyn-based filmmaking collective, and joined Park Pictures in 2006, releasing his first f ...

and released on July 24, 2015, by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. In 2016, Smith broke out in the lead role of Ezekiel Figuero in

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

's musical drama series '' The Get Down'', during which Smith employed the technique known as method acting by taking up residence in a dilapidated Bronx apartment. ''The Get Down'' premiered in August 2016 and concluded in April 2017, being cancelled shortly thereafter. In 2017, Smith was on

Forbes 30 under 30 ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists of people under 30 years old issued annually by ''Forbes'' magazine and some of its regional editions. The American lists recognize 600 business and industry figures, with 30 selected in twenty industries ...

List. Smith also appeared in New York, opposite Lucas Hedges, in the

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

stage production of ''Yen'' by playwright Anna Jordan. The production ran at the

Lucille Lortel Theater The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...

starting January 2017 and closed on March 4, 2017. In February 2018, Smith co-starred in '' Every Day'' as Justin, the boyfriend of lead character Rhiannon. A few months later, in June 2018, he portrayed Franklin Webb in '' Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'', which turned out to be his first big breakthrough. Smith starred in the 2019 blockbuster '' Pokémon Detective Pikachu'', a live-action film based on the video game of the same name. He starred alongside Elle Fanning in ''

'', directed by

Brett Haley Brett Haley (born ) is an American filmmaker and actor best known for his work on '' The Hero'' and ''Hearts Beat Loud''. Early life Haley was born in Illinois and raised in Key West, Florida and Pensacola, Florida. Haley developed an inter ...

from a screenplay by

Liz Hannah Elizabeth Hannah (born December 14, 1985) is an American screenwriter and film producer. She is best known for her work on Steven Spielberg's 2017 journalism drama ''The Post'' for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Screenpl ...

and

Jennifer Niven Jennifer Niven is a New York Times and international best selling American author who is best known for the 2015 young adult book, ''All the Bright Places''. Life and career Niven grew up in Indiana. As well as writing novels, Niven has also ...

, the latter of whom authored the novel upon which the film is based. Filming commenced in the fall of 2018. In 2020, Justice Smith participated in ''

Acting for a Cause ''Acting for a Cause'' is a live read series of classic plays and screenplays created, produced, directed and hosted by Brando Crawford. The script is typically announced days before the event alongside a playbill featuring the cast and an anima ...

'', a live classic play and screenplay reading series created, directed and produced by Brando Crawford. Smith played Jack in

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and Dennis Ziegler in This is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan. The reading raised funds for non-profit charities including

Mount Sinai Medical Center Mount Sinai Hospital, formerly at times known as Mount Sinai Medical Center, is a 319-bed major urban hospital in Chicago, Illinois, with its main campus located adjacent to Douglass Park at 15th Street and California Avenue on the city's West Si ...

Personal life

Smith came out as

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

in an Instagram post on June 5, 2020, and said he is in a romantic relationship with actor Nicholas L. Ashe. He mentioned in a behind the scenes video of '' Detective Pikachu'' that he is a ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' fan, and still has the first-generation '' Pokémon Trading Cards''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Justice 1995 births 21st-century American male actors African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors LGBT African Americans LGBT male actors LGBT people from California Living people Male actors from Los Angeles Orange County School of the Arts alumni Queer actors Queer men American LGBT actors 21st-century African-American people