The best Jurnee Smollett movies and TV shows reveal an actress who got a huge early start to her career and parlayed it into something special as she got older. Smollett was one of six siblings, all of whom have entered into the entertainment industry in one way or another. She got a very early start as a child actor, working on TV shows like Full House and The Cosbys while also making her film debut in the Robin Williams movie Jack. However, her breakout came when she was 10 and starred in Eve’s Bayou.
After earning award recognition for that performance, she went on to build a solid career over the next few years and continued to work to cracft a movie and TV career in a variety of genres. Over her three decades in the business, Smollett has worked alongside Denzel Washington, starred in a DCU movie, and took part in several TV shows that featured inspirational sports stories, fantastical vampire lore, and even H.P. Lovecraft horror themes.
10 Gridiron Gang (2006)
Jurnee Smollett Played Danyelle Rollins
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Gridiron Gang is a 2006 film starring Dwayne Johnson as a counselor at a juvenile detention center who forms a football team to help inmates gain self-esteem and discipline. Based on a true story, the film explores themes of redemption and teamwork as the young men confront their troubled pasts and build a sense of purpose through the sport.
Director Phil Joanou Release Date September 15, 2006 Cast Dwayne Johnson , Xzibit , L. Scott Caldwell , Leon Rippy , Kevin Dunn , Jade Yorker Runtime 125 minutes
In 2006, Dwayne Johnson was still working on building his Hollywood brand and appeared in a sports drama movie called Gridiron Gang. Johnson starred as Sean Porter, a man who works for a juvenile detention center who wants to help young men find a way to improve their lives before their release. He decides to start a football team in the prison, so the incarcerated teens can feel like they are part of something and learn discipline and responsibility along the way.
As for Smollett, it was a small role, but her connection to Willie made her an important character in the story.
Jurnee Smollett stars in Gridiron Gang as Danyelle Rollins. She is the girlfriend of Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker) and went to high school with Leon Hayes (Maurice McRae), two of the main characters and prisoners in the juvenile detention facility. The film received a 43% Rotten Tomatoes fresh score and showed that Johnson could do something other than pure action in his movies. As for Smollett, it was a small role, but her connection to Willie made her an important character in the story.
9 The Order (2024)
Jurnee Smollett Played Joanne Carney
The Order (2024) CrimeDramaThriller
A lone FBI agent, stationed in a small Idaho town, uncovers a disturbing connection between a series of violent bank robberies and a white supremacist group known as The Order. As the investigation deepens, the agent finds himself up against a dangerous domestic terror organization bent on sowing chaos across the Pacific Northwest.
Director Justin Kurzel Release Date December 5, 2024 Cast Marc Maron , George Tchortov , Daniel Yip , Daniel Doheny , Sebastian Pigott , Jude Law , John Warkentin , Nicholas Hoult , Phillip Forest Lewitski , Vanessa Holmes , Bryan J. McHale , Rae Farrer , Carter Morrison , Odessa Young , Tye Sheridan , Philip Granger , Ryan Chandoul Wesley , Morgan Holmstrom , Bradley Stryker , Alison Oliver , Huxley Fisher , Jurnee Smollett , Randy Fisher , Geena Meszaros , Sean Tyler Foley , Victor Slezak , Matias Lucas , Sarah Haggeman , Dayna Lea Hoffman , Lenore Stillwell , Jason Long , Reid Fisher , Jerod Blake , Paul Wood , Shawn Markwardt , Judith Buchan , David LeReaney , Sally Bishop , Stafford Perry , Chantal Perron Runtime 120 Minutes Expand
The Order premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in August 2024, but its theatrical release isn’t until December 2024. The film is based on the non-fiction novel The Silent Brotherhood by Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt and follows an FBI Agent who is tracking a white supremacist group called The Order in the 1980s. The real-life group was active between 1983 and 1984 and was labeled a terrorist organization, They are best known for murdering radio show host Alan Berg in 1984.
The cast is impressive, with Jude Law as the lead FBI agent on the case, Terry Husk, and Nicolas Hulot as Bob Matthews, the leader of The Order. Jurnee Smollett stars as Joanne Carney, another FBI agent on the case. The festival screening was a great success, as it received an 83% Rotten Tomatoes fresh score, with praise going to the style and a dark look at American violence. It was nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival but lost to Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door.
8 Birds Of Prey (2020)
Jurnee Smollett Played Black Canary
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Birds of Prey takes place after the original Suicide Squad film and shines the spotlight on Harley Quinn. After being dumped by The Joker, Harley Quinn finds herself on the road to recovery through various comical and destructive (but not to herself) means. Following a stolen diamond and a young pickpocket that has won her over, Quinn is forced to join forces with three vigilante female superheroes – Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya to save a little girl’s life from the crime lord Roman Sionis, AKA the Black Mask.
Director Cathy Yan Release Date February 7, 2020 Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Cast Jurnee Smollett-Bell , Matthew Willig , Bojana Novakovic , Ali Wong , Ewan McGregor , Charlene Amoia , Margot Robbie , Rosie Perez , Mary Elizabeth Winstead , Chris Messina Runtime 109 minutes
Jurnee Smollett’s highest-profile movie role came in 2020 when she appeared in the DCU movie Birds of Prey. This was Harley Quinn’s movie after her introduction in Suicide Squad, and it saw her team up with other major DC female heroes to stop a crime lord known as Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). These other female heroes included The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), and Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett).
Jurnee Smollett earned both the BET Awards and Saturn Awards nomination for Best Actress.
Fans might recognize Black Canary’s name from the Arrowverse where Katie Cassidy played Dinah Lance, who later became the Black Canary in that world. However, Smollett played a different version of Black Canary, a nightclub singer in Black Mask’s club who chooses to help Harley Quinn fight back against her evil boss. In both cases, her powers involve a supersonic scream. Birds of Prey has a 78% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score and Smollett earned a Saturn Awards nomination.
7 The Burial (2023)
Jurnee Smollett Played Mame Downes
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Based on a true story, The Burial is a legal drama film by director Maggie Betts created for Prime Video. When funeral homeowner/director Jeremiah O’Keefe sees a non-penned deal go south, he reaches out to the charismatic attorney Willie E. Gary for help. Together, the two navigate the tricky dealings of corporations and prejudicial blockades to save O’Keefe’s family funeral home business.
Director Maggie Betts Release Date October 6, 2023 Distributor(s) Prime Video Cast Jamie Foxx , Tommy Lee Jones , Jurnee Smollett , Alan Ruck , Mamoudou Athie , Pamela Reed , Bill Camp Runtime 126 Minutes Budget $32.5 Million Expand
In 2023, Jurnee Smollett had a role in the legal drama The Burial. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones as a man who sets up a deal to sell parts of his funeral home businesses to a company, but when they try to pull one over on him, he hires a young personal injury lawyer to represent him, hoping to sway a predominantly Black jury. Jamie Foxx plays the young lawyer. However, when the company he is suing realizes this, they hire an all-Black lawyer team led by a woman named Mame Downes.
Jurnee Smollett stars as Mame Downes in the movie, and she is the one the company thinks can help sway the jury to their side in the case. The Burial is based on a real-life case, and the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim. It has a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score, certified fresh, and an 82% audience Popcornmeter score. It only received a limited theatrical release, though, and ended up heading to Prime Video in 2023.
6 True Blood (2013-2014)
Jurnee Smollett Played Nicole Wright
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True Blood is a horror/fantasy drama series created by Alan Ball and starring Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and Alexander Skarsgård. The series follows the life of Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress with telepathic powers that lives in a fictional town in Louisiana. In this town, a new synthetic “drug” has allowed vampires to escape their coffins and roam amongst the living.
Cast Ryan Kwanten , Kristin Bauer van Straten , Sam Trammell , Alexander Skarsgard , Stephen Moyer , Rutina Wesley , Anna Paquin , Chris Bauer Release Date September 7, 2008 Seasons 7 Showrunner Alan Ball
True Blood is based on the Charlaine Harris vampire franchise known as The Southern Vampire Mysteries. In the series, vampires have become known to the world, and most are surviving by using synthetic blood called “Tru Blood” rather than hunting humans. The series follows vampires’ struggles to assimilate into society. At the same time, there are also both anti-vampire organizations trying to shut them down and vampire groups that remain intent on evil, making it hard for the good vampires to live in peace.
Related All 7 Seasons Of True Blood, Ranked Worst To Best
True Blood featured seven seasons worth of vampire lore that started out fresh, but slowly began to decline in quality as the years progressed.
The main story follows a waitress named Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepath who falls in love with an ancient vampire named Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer). Jurnee Smollett has a main role in the series sixth and seventh seasons as Nicole Wright, a human co-founder of the VUS (Vampire Unity Society), a group that wants peace between humans and vampires. True Blood lasted for seven seasons and 80 episodes and remained a huge hit for HBO throughout its run.
5 Underground (2016-2017)
Jurnee Smollett Played Rosalee
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Underground is a television drama series that premiered in 2016, depicting the perilous journey of slaves seeking freedom via the Underground Railroad. The show follows a group of enslaved individuals who band together to escape from a Georgia plantation, led by Noah (Aldis Hodge). As they face tremendous odds, their pursuit for liberty encounters constant threats from those determined to capture them. Jurnee Smollett stars alongside Hodge in this historical narrative.
Cast Aldis Hodge , Jurnee Smollett , Christopher Meloni , Jessica De Gouw , Alano Miller Release Date March 9, 2016 Seasons 2 Creator(s) Joe Pokaski , Misha Green
In 2016, Jurnee Smollett joined the cast of Underground, a TV series that aired on WGN America that followed the operations of the Underground Railroad in Antebellum, Georgia. The series focuses on a group called the Macon 7, a fictional group whose purpose is to use everything at their disposal to avoid and escape slave catchers and overseers. In the cast, there are three members of the Macon 7 listed as main cast members – Aldis Hodge’s Noah, Jurnee Smollett’s Rosalee, and Alano Miller’s Cato.
It was another case of Smollett delivering an impressive on-screen performance.
For Smollett, she is a young and sheltered house slave on the Macon plantation whose parents are Ernestine, a slave, and Tom Macon, her master. Sadly, the show ended up canceled after only two seasons when Sinclair Broadcasting planned to purchase Tribune Media (via Deadline). This is despite its very high critical ratings, with a 93% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 100% for the second season. It was another case of Smollett delivering an impressive on-screen performance.
4 The Great Debaters (2007)
Jurnee Smollett Played Samantha Booke
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The Great Debaters is a biographical drama film based on the true story of the Wiley College debate team. Set in the 1930s, the film follows the team’s journey to the national championships, led by coach Melvin B. Tolson, played by Denzel Washington, who also directed the film.
Director Denzel Washington Release Date December 25, 2007 Studio(s) Marshall Production , The Weinstein Company , Harpo Films Cast Denzel Whitaker , Denzel Washington , Nate Parker , Jurnee Smollett , Forest Whitaker Runtime 126 Minutes
Released in 2007, Denzel Washington directed and starred in the historical drama The Great Debaters. The movie follows the Wiley College debate team in 1935 Texas, led by coach Melvin B. Tolson (Washington). The goal of Melvin was to place his team on equal grounds with white colleges in the American South during the 1930s, a time when the Jim Crow laws still existed and p[public lynchings were still commonplace. He eventually led his school to debate the top schools in the nation.
Jurnee Smollett stars in the movie as Samantha Booke, a character based on the real-life Henrietta Bell Wells, an acclaimed poet and the only female member of the Wiley debate team who participated in the first interracial debate in the United States. The film was a minor box office success and it was a critical success with an 80% Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score and won several Image Awards, including one for Smollett for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture.
3 Lovecraft Country (2020)
Jurnee Smollett Played Letitia “Leti” Lewis
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Based on the book by Matt Ruff, HBO’s Lovecraft Country is set in the 1950s and follows Atticus Freeman, his friend Letitia Lewis, and his uncle George as they set off to find his missing father in the Jim Crow South. During their search, they discover monsters similar to H.P. Lovecraft creatures and that Atticus is the descendant of Samuel Braithwhite, the former leader of the Order of the Ancient Dawn. Together, Atticus and his family and friends must defeat Christina, the last daughter of the Braithwhite line, before she sacrifices Atticus and claims his family’s magic for her own.
Cast Aunjanue Ellis , Jurnee Smollett , Michael K. Williams , Jamie Chung , Jonathan Majors , Wunmi Mosaku , Jordan Patrick Smith , Abbey Lee , Courtney B. Vance , Jada Harris Release Date August 16, 2020 Seasons 1 Showrunner Misha Green
In 2020, Jurnee Smollett joined the cast of the fantasy series Lovecraft Country. Based on the novel by Matt Ruff, the series follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he sets out on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America to find his missing father. He takes the trip with his friend Letitia and his Uncle George, and along the way, they have to survive racist terrors in white America and monsters that bear a strong similarity to the H.P. Lovecraft-created creatures.
Related Lovecraft Country: Biggest Differences Between The Book & HBO Show
Lovecraft Country on HBO starts by following Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name closely, but there are many differences between the show and book.
Smollett stars as Letitia “Leti” Lewis, Atticus’s old friend and love interest. The series was critically acclaimed and received high praise for its themes, stories, and how it contrasted the Lovecraft monsters with the racial issues in Jim Crow America. It received an 88% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and even earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series—Drama and 18 different Primetime Emmy Award nominations. However, HBO canceled Lovecraft Country after only one season.
2 Friday Night Lights (2009-2011)
Jurnee Smollett Played Jess Merriweather
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Based on the book of the same name, Friday Night Lights is a sports drama series that centers around the Dillon Panthers, a high school football team in Texas. The show focuses on the small town and the community they share, tackling major social and political issues and the players’ challenges as they go through an increasingly difficult season.
Cast Taylor Kitsch , Jesse Plemons , Kyle Chandler , Connie Britton Release Date October 3, 2006 Seasons 5 Showrunner Jason Katims
Friday Night Lights was originally a 1990 novel by H.G. Bissinger, telling the story of life in Midland and Odessa, Texas, and how high school football was one of the only things that brought entertainment to an area that lived and died based on oil production in America. The book was turned into a movie in 2004 and became a TV series in 2006. In the TV series, the story moved away from the Permian Basin and into a fictional small West Texas town, but the story still followed the importance of high school football in these towns.
The show won three Emmys in 13 nominations.
Jurnee Smollett stars as Jess Merriweather, a main character who shows up in season 4 and lasts until the show’s end in season 5. She was a high school student in the series, the daughter of a former state-championship-winning quarterback who grew to resent the team and the town’s feelings about football in small-town Texas. She then becomes a female coach for the team and moves on to rise to the coaching ranks as time goes on. The show won three Emmys in 13 nominations.
1 Eve’s Bayou (1997)
Jurnee Smollett Played Eve Batiste
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Eve’s Bayou is a drama film directed by Kasi Lemmons, exploring the complex dynamics within an affluent African-American family in Louisiana. Jurnee Smollett stars as Eve, a young girl who witnesses tumultuous events surrounding her father’s infidelities, played by Samuel L. Jackson. The film delves into themes of memory and perception, magnifying the impact of personal and familial secrets.
Director Kasi Lemmons Release Date November 7, 1997 Cast Jurnee Smollett , Meagan Good , Samuel L. Jackson , Lynn Whitfield , Debbi Morgan , Jake Smollett , Ethel Ayler , Diahann Carroll
After Jurnee Smollett made her film debut with a small role in Robin Williams’s movie Jack, she enjoyed her breakout in the Southern Gothic drama movie Eve’s Bayou. The film is about a 10-year-old girl named Eve Batiste who lives with her siblings in a wealthy Creole-American community in Louisiana. Her dad, Louis (Samuel L. Jackson), is a doctor named Louis who claims that his ancestors founded the town of Eve’s Bayou. However, Eve’s life changes when she sees her dad cheating on her mother.
When Eve uncovers more dark secrets about her dad, she goes to a voodoo priestess and asks for supernatural help for revenge, and the story goes in unexpected directions. Eve’s Bayou has an 83% fresh Rotten Tomatoes rating, and it was listed on many of the best-film lists for 1997. Eve’s Bayou received seven NAACP Image Awards nominations, including one for Jurnee Smollett, who played the role of Eve Batiste and proved she was a star in the making.