Early life

Smollett was born in Santa Rosa, California, and is the son of Janet and Joel Smollett. He has three brothers and two sisters: Jake, Jocqui, Jojo, Jurnee, and Jazz. His father was Jewish (his family emigrated from Russia and Poland). His mother is African-American.

Career

Smollett began his acting career as a child, co-starring in the films The Mighty Ducks (1992) and Rob Reiner's North (1994). On television, he starred alongside his five real-life siblings in the short-lived ABC sitcom On Our Own from 1994-95.

In 2012, Smollett returned to acting with the leading role in the LGBT-themed comedy-drama The Skinny. He later guest-starred on The Mindy Project and Revenge. In 2014, Smollett was cast as Jamal Lyon—a gay musician who struggles to gain his father's approval—opposite Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard in the Fox primetime drama Empire.

Smollett is also a singer-songwriter; in 2012, he released an EP album, The Poisoned Hearts Club. In February 2015, he confirmed that he had signed a recording contract with Columbia Records and would be releasing an album in the future. Smollett co-wrote the songs "I Wanna Love You" and "You're So Beautiful" on the Original Soundtrack from Season 1 of Empire album, which was released in March 2015.

In June 2015, it was announced that Smollett will guest-star alongside his younger sister Jurnee Smollett in her upcoming TV show Underground set to air in 2016.

Personal life

Smollett revealed he is gay during a backstage interview with Ellen DeGeneres in March 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1991	A Little Piece of Heaven	Salem Bordeaux	Television film
1992	The Mighty Ducks	Terry Hall	Nominated — Young Artist Award for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
1994	North	Adam
2009	Pitch This	Mike	Short film
2012	The Skinny	Magnus
2014	Born to Race: Fast Track	Tariq	Direct-to-video
2014	Ask Me Anything	Nico Dempster
2017	Alien: Covenant		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Alex Haley's Queen	Simon	Miniseries
1993	Coach	Billy	Episode: "Piece o' Cake"
1993-94	Cro	Mike	Voice, 20 episodes
1994-95	On Our Own	Jesse Jerrico	Series regular, 20 episodes
2012	The Mindy Project	Barry Stassen	Episode: "Josh and Mindy's Christmas Party"
2014	Revenge	Jamie	Episode: "Ashes"
2015-present	Empire	Jamal Lyon	Series regular Nominated—BET Award for Best Actor Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Drama Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice TV: Breakout Star
2016-present	Underground	Josey
2016	Live with Kelly and Michael	Himself	Guest host

Music videos

Year	Artist	Title
2015	Mariah Carey	"Infinity"

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Recipient	Outcome
1993	Young Artist Award	Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture	The Mighty Ducks	Nominated
2015	BET Awards	Best Actor	Empire	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor Drama		Nominated
		Choice TV: Breakout Star		Nominated
		Choice TV: Chemistry		Nominated
		Choice Music: Song from a Movie or TV Show	"You're So Beautiful"	Nominated
2016	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Empire	Nominated
		Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration	"You're So Beautiful"	Won
		Outstanding Song		Won
		Outstanding New Artist	Jussie Smollet	Won

Charities

Jussie Smollett supports the following charitable cause: Gay Rights.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]