Jodie Turner-Smith

Actor Jodie Turner-Smith was born on September 7, 1986 in Peterborough, England. As the youngest daughter, she was the only one of her siblings not born in Jamaica. Turner-Smith was raised in the United Kingdom long enough to have a British accent but moved with her mother to a town just north of Washington, D.C. when her parents divorced. Driven to succeed, she excelled in school and studied finance at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 2008. While she was successful in the world of corporate banking, she was ultimately unfulfilled. She was considering a move to Los Angeles when an encounter with Pharrell Williams at a concert in Pittsburgh cemented the idea. He gave her a first contact with music video producer Hype Williams and she took off from there. Turner-Smith began with modeling gigs and small roles, notably appearing in the music video for "Walkin' on the Moon" (2014) by The-Dream and Kanye West. She debuted on a television show in 2013 as a siren for four episodes of "True Blood" (HBO, 2008-14). Progressing to larger roles, she portrayed a Kenyan sergeant for two seasons of "The Last Ship" (TNT, 2014-18). When Turner-Smith earned a lead role in the film "Queen & Slim" (2019) she earned a reputation as a skilled leading lady. She was cast as the titular character in "Anne Boleyn" (Channel 5, 2021) in 2020. While she received praise from critics for her performance, Turner-Smith endured racist backlash portraying the European queen and the miniseries ultimately garnered mostly negative reviews. Shifting from historical drama to science fiction, she starred in "After Yang" (2021) with Colin Farrell and was cast in the miniseries "Star Wars - The Acolyte" (Disney+, 2024).