The fourth of six performing siblings, she received critical acclaim for her performance as ten-year-old Eve in the independent film Eve’s Bayou (1997). in casting the role, writer-director Kasi Lemmons envisioned “a light-skinned black child who could convey the nuances of a Creole child in the 60s.” She co-starred with her siblings in the ABC television comedy On Our Own (1994-1995) and guest appeared in numerous television shows: Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, Full House, Martin, Wanda At Large, House, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. in 2000, she co-starred with Sharon Stone (Smollett played daughter to Stone’s “Hush”) and Billy Connelly in the comedy film Beautiful Joe. in 2006, she joined the film Gridiron Gang. On March 17, 2009, she visited Ekhaya Multi Arts Centre, Kwa Mashu Township, north of Durban, South Africa, where she led an exchange youth forum sharing her experiences with Kwa Mashu youth. She spoke at the Ryan White Youth Conference, and elsewhere, on this issue.

Her father is Jewish and her mother is African American. Smollett co-starred in the last two seasons of Friday Night Lights. Her first encounter with the disease came at age seven when a crew member of On Our Own died of AIDS. Smollett is on the Board of Directors of Artists for a New South Africa, dedicated to dealing with HIV/AIDS in Africa.