Justice Smith has built a career that moves comfortably between blockbuster adventures, intimate dramas and live theater. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he grew up surrounded by music in a large creative family. Both of his parents were professional singers, but Smith ultimately found his own form of expression through acting. His journey included early rejection, performing arts training and small television roles before major Hollywood opportunities arrived. Today, his credits range from Paper Towns and Pokémon Detective Pikachu to Jurassic World and Dungeons and Dragons.
Smith grew up as one of eight siblings and showed an interest in performing from an early age. Although music was a natural part of family life, acting and writing became stronger interests. As a teenager, he even applied to work as a character performer at Disneyland. He did not get the role and instead found work taking tickets at another theme park, an early setback that did little to change his ambitions.
His education helped turn that interest into a profession. Smith attended the Orange County School of the Arts, where he studied acting and developed his skills as a performer. Television work followed, including roles in Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans and HBO’s Masterclass. His film breakthrough arrived in 2015 with Paper Towns, the adaptation of John Green’s novel, in which he played Radar alongside Nat Wolff and Cara Delevingne.
Smith soon moved into larger productions. In Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, he joined the blockbuster franchise as Franklin Webb, a systems analyst whose nervous energy provided humor amid the dinosaur chaos. He then starred opposite Ryan Reynolds and a digitally created Pikachu in Pokémon Detective Pikachu, playing Tim Goodman, a young man investigating the disappearance of his father.
His later projects continued to demonstrate his range. Dungeons and Dragons Honor Among Thieves cast him as Simon Aumar, an insecure sorcerer learning to trust his abilities while joining an unlikely group of adventurers. Away from franchise filmmaking, Smith has taken on more intimate and unconventional projects that give him opportunities to explore very different characters.
Theater remains another important part of his work. Smith has performed on stage in New York, including in the acclaimed Off Broadway production of Yen, and has spoken about the distinctive connection created by performing directly in front of an audience. That live experience offers a different challenge from film sets filled with cameras, effects and repeated takes.
One misconception has followed Smith throughout his career. Despite sharing a surname with Will Smith, the two actors are not related, and Justice is not Jaden Smith’s brother.
From a teenager searching for his first performing opportunity to an actor moving between major franchises and live theater, Justice Smith has followed a path built on versatility. Rather than staying within one genre, he continues to make variety one of the defining qualities of his career.
