Renée Felice Smith (born January 16, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for portraying

Nell Jones This is an overview of regular and recurring characters on the TV series '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. Overview Main Cast Recurring Cast Main characters G. Callen G. Callen (portrayed by Chris O'Donnell) is a Special Agent in Charge as ...

on '' NCIS: Los Angeles'', since joining the series in 2010.

Early life

Smith was born in New York City of mixed Irish-Italian descent. She attended Patchogue-Medford High School on Long Island, New York, as well as the

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

, graduating with honors, double majoring in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

and minoring in history, Stonestreet Studios Conservatory and the

Lee Strasberg Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, ...

. While at NYU, she co-created the student dance troupe, Pulse Dance Project.

Career

Smith's first acting job was a national television commercial for

Dannon Danone S.A. () is a French multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of the company's products are ...

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

in 1991 at age six. Smith started off in theatre, having made her debut in Second Stage's ''Wildflower''. She was cast for a

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

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directed by

Amy Sherman-Palladino Amy Sherman-Palladino (born January 17, 1966) is an American television writer, director, and producer. She is the creator of the comedy-drama series ''Gilmore Girls'', ''Bunheads'', and ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''. Sherman-Palladino has rece ...

, 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''. In 2010, Smith was cast to appear as

on '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. Initially planned to be only a

recurring character A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main f ...

, Smith's role was expanded to main cast after she impressed the producers with her acting. In 2011, Smith appeared as a

supporting character A supporting character is a character in a narrative that is not the focus of the primary storyline, but is important to the plot/protagonist, and appears or is mentioned in the story enough to be more than just a minor character or a cameo ap ...

, Missy, in '' Detachment''. In 2012, Smith began co-creating a children's book series based on her French bulldog, Hugo. In April 2014, Smith starred as Frankie in ''Code Academy'', a short

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universe ...

production in which young men and women are kept apart until a certain age. In April 2015, Smith starred in and produced the short film, ''Baby'', which premiered at SXSW Film Festival. Smith appeared in the March 1, 2017, episode of ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Char ...

'' titled "A Cricket's Tale". Smith and C.A. Gabriel co-directed their first feature film, ''The Relationtrip'' (2017), which premiered at SXSW in March 2017. In 2020, Smith and her partner, Chris Gabriel, sold a television pilot to FX. March 2021, Smith and her partner, Chris Gabriel, released their first picture book entitled, "Hugo and the Impossible Thing" inspired by their real life French Bulldog, Hugo.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Renée Felice Smith
on

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What Is Renee Felice Smith Doing Now
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Renee Felice 1985 births 21st-century American actresses Actresses from New York City American film actresses American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent American television actresses Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Living people People from Long Island Tisch School of the Arts alumni