| Brian J. Smith | |
| Birth Name: | Brian Jacob Smith |
| Birth Date: | 12 October 1981 |
| Birth Place: | Allen, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 2005–present |
Brian Jacob Smith (born October 12, 1981) is an American actor, known for his role as Will Gorski in the Netflix-produced series Sense8,[1] Lieutenant Matthew Scott in the military science fiction television series Stargate Universe, and his Tony Award-nominated role as Jim O'Connor (The Gentleman Caller) in the 2013 revival of The Glass Menagerie.[2]
Smith is a native of Allen, Texas.[1] He studied at the Quad C Theatre program at Collin County Community College in Plano, Texas.[3] After he was an apprentice for one year at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, Smith moved to New York City to attend the Juilliard School Drama Division's four-year acting program (Group 36: 2003–2007).[4] Smith graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
While enrolled at Collin College, Smith worked as theatre technician.[5] He was later cast as Alex in A Clockwork Orange in a Quad C Theatre production to a positive review from the Dallas Observer.[6] In 2005, he portrayed Trey, a gay man facing intolerance from the son of a fundamentalist preacher, in Hate Crime, an independent film that featured at gay and lesbian film festivals around the United States.
Upon graduating from Juilliard, Smith briefly considered joining the US Army due to several setbacks in his career.[7]
Smith eventually received acting roles in two more independent films, Red Hook and The War Boys. In 2008, he appeared on Broadway in the play Come Back, Little Sheba as the character Turk.[1] [8] Smith was cast as Lieutenant Matthew Scott, a lead role in the 2009 Stargate television series, Stargate Universe, until its cancellation in 2010. He also guest-starred on Law & Order in 2009.
In 2011, Smith recurred on The CW's Gossip Girl and starred in the SyFy original film . In April 2012, he began his run as Andrei in the hit Broadway show, The Columnist, which ended in July 2012. His next projects included the mini-series Coma from producer Tony Scott and an appearance on Warehouse 13 for SyFy.
From September 2013 to February 2014, he played The Gentleman Caller in a Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie at the Booth Theatre.[9] This role earned him 2014 Drama Desk and Tony Award nominations as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. In 2015, he appeared in the pilot episode of Quantico as one of the new FBI recruits.
Smith was a lead cast member on the Netflix original series Sense8 (2015–2018) playing the character Will Gorski. He followed up with main roles on Treadstone,[10] a serial spin-off of the Bourne films, and the BBC World War II drama mini series World on Fire in 2019.[11]
Smith played Berg in The Matrix Resurrections in 2021 and in 2023, was cast as Daniel Lennix, a lead character in FX on Hulu's series Class of '09 and as Ken in Essex County a Canadian television drama.
A House Is Not a Disco, his debut documentary film as a director, premiered at the 2024 SXSW festival.[12]
On November 7, 2019, Smith came out as gay in an interview with Attitude.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Hate Crime | Trey McCoy | ||
| 2009 | George | |||
| Red Hook | Chappy | |||
| 2016 | Sam Alden | |||
| 2018 | 22 Chaser | Ben Dankert | ||
| 2021 | The Matrix Resurrections | Berg |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Stargate Atlantis | Soldier | Season 1, episode 10: "The Storm" |
| 2009 | Law & Order | Derek Sherman | Episode: "Crimebusters" |
| 2009–2010 | Stargate Universe Kino | Matthew Scott | Main role; 10 episodes |
| 2009–2011 | Stargate Universe | Matthew Scott | Main role; 40 episodes |
| 2010 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Hector MacQueen | Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express" |
| 2011 | Gossip Girl | Max Harding | 6 episodes |
| Jake Mason | TV movie | ||
| 2012 | Warehouse 13 | Jesse Ashton | Episode: "Personal Effects" |
| Coma | Paul Carpin | 2 episodes | |
| Ricky Waters | Episode: "The Art of War" | ||
| Person of Interest | Shayn Coleman | Episode: "Shadow Box" | |
| 2013 | Blue Bloods | Robert Carter | Episode: "Devil's Breath" |
| Defiance | Gordon McClintlock | 2 episodes | |
| Unforgettable | John Curtis | Episode: "Past Tense" | |
| 2015 | Quantico | Eric Packer | Episode: "Run" |
| 2015–2018 | Sense8 | Will Gorski | Main role; 24 episodes |
| 2018 | L.A. Confidential | Ed Exley | Unsold series pilot |
| 2019 | Treadstone | Doug McKenna | Main role; 10 episodes |
| World on Fire | Webster O'Connor | Main role; 6 episodes | |
| 2023 | Essex County | Ken | Main role; 5 episodes |
| Class of '09 | Daniel Lennix | Miniseries; main cast[14] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Come Back, Little Sheba | Turk | Manhattan Theatre Club Broadway |
| Good Boys and True | Brandon | Second Stage Theatre Off-Broadway | |
| Three Changes | Gordon | Playwrights Horizons Off-Broadway | |
| 2012 | Andrei | Manhattan Theatre Club Broadway | |
| 2013 | The Gentleman Caller | American Repertory Theater Boston, MA | |
| The Glass Menagerie | The Gentleman Caller | Booth Theatre Broadway | |
| 2017 | The Glass Menagerie | The Gentleman Caller | Duke of York's Theatre London, UK |
| Sweet Bird of Youth | Chance Wayne | Chichester Festival Theatre |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Elliot Norton Award | Outstanding Ensemble | The Glass Menagerie | |
| 2014 | Tony Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | ||
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | |||
| Drama League Award | Distinguished Performance | |||
| Outer Critics Circle Award | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | |||
| Broadway.com Audience Choice Award | Favorite Featured Actor in a Play | |||
| Favorite Breakthrough Performance (Male) | ||||
| BroadwayWorld.com Award | Best Featured Actor in a Play |