Pic from Wireimages
Lauren Lee Smith: Playback Mag 7/4/05
Lauren Lee Smith
Age: 25
Residence: Vancouver, Los Angeles
Agency: Kirk Talent Agencies
Buzz: Stars in the forthcoming sexually charged feature Lie with Me
Strong, confident women are at the heart of Lauren Lee Smith's acting choices - women who scare her when she first reads them.
"I couldn't care less if a movie makes a huge profit. I choose my roles based on whether the script terrifies me," she says.
Born in Vancouver, Smith moved from modeling to the stage. Finding representation with little technical training, she quickly scored roles in the B.C.-shot feature Get Carter, and the series Dark Angel, The Twilight Zone and Mutant X. The latter brought her a 2002 Gemini Award nomination for supporting actress.
When she joined as a recurring regular on The L Word, the lesbian-themed drama series on Showtime and Showcase, Smith's career intensified.
"Working with a cast of such strong female characters was empowering," she says. "To be on set with women like Mia Kirshner and Jennifer Beals, who were so comfortable in their sexuality, was amazing."
In the upcoming feature Lie with Me, Smith teams with director Clement Virgo in realizing a script written by Tamara Berger and Virgo that is sexually charged and raw. But she refutes rumors that the movie uses nudity gratuitously.
"It's controversial, but it's also something everyone will understand," she notes. "It's about a woman who is not so comfortable with the emotional side of relationships, but is so good with the physical, sexual side. Taking the role wasn't about the 'naked chick' quality - it's about showing strong, sexual women."
Smith recently wrapped on the dramatic feature comedy The Last Kiss, directed by L Word helmer Tony Goldwyn. Working with actors Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson, Smith notes, "It's the most mainstream movie I've done so far, and I play this young, crazy, bitchy mom. But again, I took it so I could jump into something I've never done, something new." Tracy Nita Pender
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