Douglas Smith

Douglas Alexander Smith (born June 22, 1985) is a Canadian actor most notable for his work on the HBO series Big Love as Ben Henrickson, the eldest son of polygamist Bill Henrickson, as well as his role as Elliot in The Bye Bye Man.

Early life

Smith was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Terrea (née Oster), an American-born teacher, and Maurice Smith, a producer of low-budget films, who is originally from the United Kingdom. Smith's mother appeared in several of the films that his father produced during the 1980s. He is the younger brother of actor Gregory Smith.

Career

Smith has been acting since he was cast as Malvolio in his 4th grade production of Shakespeare's comedy, Twelfth Night. Audiences first saw him on the big screen as a young version of Brendan Fraser's character in Blast from the Past (1999), opposite Alicia Silverstone, Sissy Spacek, and Christopher Walken. As a teenager, he went to Australia to play the lead role as an American boy living in Australia in a series called Out There. Early in his career, Smith practiced his craft through appearances on television procedurals, including CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, Close to Home, Family Law, The X-Files, Crossing Jordan, and Cold Case, among many others.

Most known for his regular role as Bill Paxton's son on Big Love, Smith co-starred in the films Sleepover, Rock the Paint, Santa's Slay and State's Evidence. He also played the role of Edward Porris in Brandon Cronenberg's directorial debut, Antiviral. The film competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, and took home the award for Best First Canadian Feature at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival.

In late 2012, Smith began filming the musical/comedy/horror film, Stage Fright. He played the roles of both Metal Killer and Buddy, in addition to performing two musical numbers in the film. One of the songs was alongside Grammy winning artist Meat Loaf. Stage Fright premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures.

2013 saw Smith star as Tyson, the cyclops half-brother of Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman), in the film Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. He also began production for his lead role alongside Olivia Cooke in the horror film Ouija for Universal/Platinum Dunes at the end of 2013.

An alumnus of RADA's Shakespeare Summer School, Smith made his off Broadway debut in 2014, starring in the New York premiere of Simon Stephens' Punk Rock at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the West Village. He played William Carlisle, a role originated by Tom Sturridge at the Lyric Hammersmith in 2010. The production and Smith's performance received favorable reviews. It was listed among The Guardian's and The New York Times' "Best of 2014" lists - David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "In such an exemplary cast, it's unfair to single out any one of the seven principal actors for special praise. But Smith, best known for HBO's Big Love, is sad, scary and transfixing. Whatever you get out of the play, Cullman's taut production serves as a knockout ensemble showcase for a new generation of gifted stage actors." The production was nominated for both OBIE and Drama League Awards.

In 2015, Smith was seen in a minor role in Terminator Genisys. He made his first appearance on HBO since wrapping Big Love in a significant arc on Martin Scorsese's Vinyl, opposite Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde, and Ray Romano in 2016. He then returned to the horror genre in The Bye Bye Man, where he starred in the role of Elliot alongside Lucien Laviscount, Michael Trucco and Doug Jones.

Smith's first project of 2017 was the drama Bottom of the World, a mystery thriller released on Netflix that was directed by Richard Sears and also starred Jena Malone and Ted Levine. He is currently in production on The Alienist, an 1800s-based psychological thriller crime drama series created by Cary Fukunaga and based on the 1994 novel of the same name. He will play the role of Marcus Isaacson alongside Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning.

He's now back on HBO and with Zoe Kravitz, in Season 2 of Big Little Lies.

Personal life

In 2000, at the age of 15, Smith traveled to Morocco with the U.K. based charity Peace Child International as the member of a cast of actor/delegates promoting peace and tolerance through musical and dramatic performances. The show was performed in English, French, and Arabic - over the course of their eight-week tour they performed in all provinces of the country.

After completing the 5th and final season of Big Love, Smith traveled to Europe. He rented an apartment in Paris and studied French at Alliance Francaise for six months. He returned to North America to work on the film Treading Water, opposite Zoë Kravitz, at the end of 2011.

Smith purchased a home in New Orleans after falling in love with the city while filming Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters there in 2012.

He is a citizen of Canada, the United States, and of the United Kingdom.

He has been married since April 2018.

Filmography

Awards and nominations