Renée Felice Smith

Actress Renee Felice Smith studied at some of America's most prestigious drama schools before landing her first major role as intelligence analyst Nell Jones in hit crime procedural "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS, 2009-). Born in New York in 1985, Smith graduated from her hometown's Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Drama and Journalism before moving on to Stonestreet Studios Conservatory, the Yale School of Drama, and the Lee Strasberg Film and Theatre Institute. Smith began her career on the Broadway stage when she was cast in the Second Stage Theatre's "Wildflower" but quickly moved onto the small screen when she landed the part of Nell Jones, the borderline ADD analyst who develops a will they/won't they relationship with partner Eric in "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS, 2009-). During her lengthy stint on the hit series, Smith also played Dinah Thorpe in the family drama "The Wyoming Story" (2010), unruly teen Missy in "Detachment" (2011), the Adrien Brody-starring portrait of America's high school education system, and law student Emma in "That Thing with the Cat," the tale of an agoraphobic woman attempting to discover who killed her beloved feline. Smith also turned her hand to writing, producing and directing with the short films "Young(ish)" (2012), the story of an elderly couple transported back to their childhood with the help of a wooden pirate ship, and "Go Fish" (2014), a surreal comedy in which a young man tries to deal with a painful break-up. Following a minor role in nightmare babysitter thriller "Nanny Cam" (2014), Smith then returned to the short film form, firstly as popular schoolgirl Frankie in "Code Academy" (2014), a sci-fi drama in which boys and girls are kept apart until they reach adulthood, and secondly as alcoholic Naomi in "Baby" (2015), an exploration of a woman in crisis that she also produced.