Samora Smallwood is a Canadian actress and writer from Windsor, Ontario and Newfoundland. She attended the University of Windsor in the early 2000s, and graduated in 2008 with a general Bachelor of Arts. Samora won a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

at the

10th Canadian Screen Awards The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 4–10 April 2022 to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2021. The presentations were held as a ...

in 2022 for her performance in the Lifetime television film ''Death She Wrote'' (2021).

Career

Smallwood's first on-screen acting role was as an

extra Extra, Xtra, or The Extra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * The Extra (1962 film), ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * The Extra (2005 film), ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * Extra (newspaper), ...

in a 2010

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

. She is the co-founder of The Actors Work Studio in Toronto, which was originally founded with Kris Orticello in 2018. On television, Samora guest starred on ''

Designated Survivor In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a person in the presidential line of succession who is kept distant from others in the line when they are gathered together, to reduce the chance that everyone in the line ...

'', '' The Expanse'', '' Star Trek: Discovery'' and ''

Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...

''. She also had a recurring roles on

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

fantasy series '' Good Witch'' in 2021, and

Oprah Winfrey Network The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...

prime time soap opera ''

The Kings of Napa ''The Kings of Napa'' is an American prime time television soap opera, created and produced by Janine Sherman Barrois, and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Films and Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Television. The series ...

'' in 2022. In 2023 she began appearing in a recurring role as Monica Hill in the Hallmark Channel drama series, '' The Way Home''. In 2024, she co-starred in the Apple TV+ miniseries, '' The Big Cigar'', and later was cast as one of the principal characters in the

Bell Fibe TV Bell Fibe TV is an IPTV-based multichannel television service offered by Bell Canada, as part of fibre broadband services in parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba (as Bell MTS Fibe TV) and Atlantic Canada (as Bell Aliant F ...

drama series, ''Disrepair''. That year, she also founded her own production company called Hold One Entertainment and signed a deal with Bell Fibe to write, direct, and star in her own six episode series titled ''Coming Home''.

Accolades

In 2022, Smallwood won the

for Best Lead Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries at the

in 2022 for her performance in the Lifetime television film ''Death She Wrote'' (2021).

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smallwood, Samora Living people Black Canadian actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian Screen Award winning actors 21st-century Canadian actresses Year of birth missing (living people)