Career

Smith made her screen debut with small role in the 1994 film Twin Sitters. From 1996 to 1997, she starred in the NBC sitcom, Boston Common. Later in 1997, she was cast alongside Tom Arnold in another short-lived sitcom, The Tom Show on The WB. In 2000, she was supporting role in the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries, The Corner in which she played a drug addict. In the 2000s, Smith had guest starring roles on The Parkers, Without a Trace, Nip/Tuck and Girlfriends. She has made number of supporting performances in films such as Playas Ball (2003), The Whole Ten Yards (2004) and ATL (2006).

Smith has played roles in multiple Tyler Perry projects. In 2007 she appeared as the main antagonist in the romantic comedy-drama film, Daddy's Little Girls. She played the role of Angela Williams in the Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and its sequel Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010). This role she later played in the comedy series based on films, Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse.

Smith co-starred opposite Ice Cube and Keke Palmer in the 2008 family comedy-drama film, The Longshots. She had supporting role in Couples Retreat (2009), and co-starred alongside Salli Richardson in Pastor Brown (2010). In 2011, she appeared in the comedy film Jumping the Broom, and in 2014 played psychotherapist in the erotic thriller, Addicted. In 2014, she also was cast as recurring in the Fox drama series Empire as Carol Hardaway, Cookie Lyon's younger sister. In 2015, Smith made her directorial debut with Boxed In, that premiered during the 19th Annual American Black Film Festival.

Personal life

Smith was born in Camden, New Jersey, and was raised by a single mother. She has an identical twin sister named Sidra Smith, who currently lives in Harlem.

Smith, previously an atheist, is a Christian now. In an interview with EURweb.com, Smith discussed her conversion from atheism to Christianity: "When I was 25 I had an encounter with God because my father had gotten sick. I had a time where I really challenged God, like, if you're really God you'll show me such-and-such'. I was going through this whole thing where I questioned whether God was real or not. I really needed God to be real because I was feeling so depressed and so unhappy, I felt like if there isn't a God I have no reason to live. It was just a bad time in my life and God really showed up and met me where I was."

In December 2010, Smith married her boyfriend of one year Keith Douglas, who is also her manager. In November 2014, Smith appeared in court to request a restraining order against Douglas, who in documents filed prior to the court appearance, she said accused her of having affairs with other women. Smith's friend Tisha Campbell-Martin acted as a character witness. The final divorce decree was issued in March 2015. However, Smith contested the divorce by alleging that Douglas concealed information from her that she should have known before the marriage. Smith alleged that Douglas was not "man of the cloth" that he presented himself to be during their courtship. She also said that, if she had known about Douglas' background, she would not have married him. The allegations about Douglas' background included five marriages before he married Smith, multiple children that he did not claim and disclose to Smith, and non-payment of income taxes for nearly a decade. The judge in the case granted Smith an annulment of the marriage in December 2015 on the basis of fraud committed by Douglas.

Smith is involved in some off-screen ventures, such as an organic perfume line titled "US", which she launched in 2011 with Keith Douglas, who, at the time, was her husband and manager.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Twin Sitters	The Aleem's Wives
1995	Let It Be Me	Student
1998	Max Q	Karen Daniels	Television film
1999	Chameleon II: Death Match	IBI Director Webster	Television film
2003	Playas Ball	Vonda
2004	The Whole Ten Yards	Jules "Julie" Figueroa
2004	My Purple Fur Coat	Ruth	Short film
2006	Miles from Home	Keisha Knight
2006	ATL	Miss Gayle
2006	You, Me and Dupree	Co-Worker	Uncredited
2006	Glass House: The Good Mother	Caseworker
2007	Love... & Other 4 Letter Words	Lucille
2007	Daddy's Little Girls	Jennifer Jackson
2007	Why Did I Get Married?	Angela Williams
2008	The Longshots	Claire Plummer
2009	Couples Retreat	Jennifer
2010	Why Did I Get Married Too?	Angela Williams
2010	Pastor Brown	Angelique Todd
2010	Something Like a Business	Angela
2011	Jumping the Broom	Shonda
2014	Addicted	Dr. Marcella Spencer
2015	Boxed in		Director and writer
2015	Polaris	Sophie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996-1997	Boston Common	Tasha King	Series regular, 32 episodes
1997	Chicago Hope	Dr. Denise Potter	Episode: "Brain Salad Surgery"
1997-1998	The Tom Show	Tanya Cole	Series regular, 19 episodes
1999	The Steve Harvey Show	Kimberly Davis	Episode: "Steve Don't Get Nun"
2000	The Corner	Veronica 'Ronnie' Boice	Miniseries
2001	The Parkers	Rachel Jones	Episode: "A Knockout Times Two"
2003	Without a Trace	Veronica	Episode: "The Friendly Skies"
2004	Nip/Tuck	Carol Nelson	Episode: "Joan Rivers"
2005	Second Time Around	Laura	Episode: "Big Bank, Little Bank"
2005	Girlfriends	Shandara Durrani	Episode: "See J-Spot Run"
2007	All of Us	Jewel	Episode: "The B-R-E-A-K-U-P"
2008	Finnegan	Det. Nenna McCants	Unsold Pilot
2009	The Game	Shiela	Episode: "The Third Legacy"
2009-2010	Meet the Browns	Tanya Gould	Recurring role, 7 episodes
2011-present	Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse	Angela Williams	Series regular, 100+ episodes Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series (2014)
2015-present	Empire	Carol Holloway	Recurring role
2015	Power	Jarita	Episodes: "You're the Only Person I Can Trust", "Three Moves Ahead" and "Ghost Is Dead"

[ Source: Wikipedia ]