Tasha Smith is an American actress, director and producer. She began her career in a starring role on the NBC comedy series Boston Common, and she later appeared in numerous movies and television series. Smith has appeared in films include The Whole Ten Yards, Daddy's Little Girls, The Longshots, Couples Retreat, and Jumping the Broom. She starred as Angela Williams in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married?, its sequel Why Did I Get Married Too?, and on the television series based on the movies, For Better or Worse. In 2015, she began a recurring role as Carol Holloway on the Fox musical drama series Empire. Later in the same year, Smith made her directorial debut including the movie "".
Early life
Smith was born in Camden, New Jersey, and was raised by a single mother. She has an identical twin sister Sidra Smith, who currently lives in Harlem. Smith dropped out of Camden High School in her freshman year, and ultimately moving to California at age 19. Smith is a Christian. In an interview with EURweb.com, Smith discussed her conversion from atheism to Christianity: "When I was 25 I had an encounter with God because my father had gotten sick. I had a time where I really challenged God, like, if you're really God you'll show me such-and-such'. I was going through this whole thing where I questioned whether God was real or not. I really needed God to be real because I was feeling so depressed and so unhappy, I felt like if there isn't a God I have no reason to live. It was just a bad time in my life and God really showed up and met me where I was."
Career
Smith made her acting debut with a small role in the comedy filmTwin Sitters. From 1996 to 1997, she starred in the NBC comedy series, Boston Common. Later in 1997, she was cast alongside Tom Arnold in another short-lived comedy series, The Tom Show on The WB. In 2000, she had supporting role in the HBO miniseries, The Corner in which she played a drug addict. In the 2000s, Smith had guest starring roles on The Parkers, Without a Trace, Nip/Tuck, and Girlfriends. She has made number of supporting roles in movies such as Playas Ball, The Whole Ten Yards, and ATL. Smith has played roles in multiple Tyler Perry projects. In 2007, she appeared as the main antagonist in the romantic comedy-drama film, Daddy's Little Girls. She played the role of Angela Williams in the Why Did I Get Married?, and its sequel Why Did I Get Married Too?. The role she later played in the comedy series based on films, Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse. Smith co-starred alongside Ice Cube and Keke Palmer in the family comedy-drama film, The Longshots. She had supporting role in the romantic comedy filmCouples Retreat, and co-starred alongside Salli Richardson, Nicole Ari Parker and Michael B. Jordan in Pastor Brown. In 2011, she appeared in the comedy-drama film Jumping the Broom alongside Angela Bassett and Paula Patton, and in 2014, she played a psychotherapist in the erotic thriller, Addicted. In 2014, she also was cast in a recurring role in the Fox drama series Empire as Carol Hardaway, Cookie Lyon's younger sister. In 2015, Smith made her directorial debut with the short film Boxed in, which premiered during the 19th Annual American Black Film Festival. In 2017, Smith directed the television film When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story, starring Lil Mama and Lance Gross and it is based on a true story. It premiered to 1.6 million viewers, ranking as TV One's #1 original movie premiere of all time among all key demos. In October 2017, she also directed an episode in the BET drama anthology series Tales. Smith worked as Mary J. Blige's acting coach for her role in Mudbound. In 2019, Smith appeared in the comedy-drama film Dolemite Is My Name, and starred opposite Lisa Kudrow and Whitney Cummings in the Amazon comedy pilot Good People. Also that year, she directed episodes of Star, 9-1-1 and Black Lightning.
Personal life
In December 2010, Smith married her boyfriend of one-year Keith Douglas, who was also her manager. In November 2014, Smith appeared in court to request a restraining order against Douglas, who in documents filed prior to the court appearance, she said accused her of having affairs with other women. Smith's friend Tisha Campbell-Martin acted as a character witness. The final divorce decree was issued in March 2015. However, Smith contested the divorce by alleging that Douglas concealed information from her that she should have known before the marriage. Smith alleged that Douglas was not "man of the cloth" that he presented himself to be during their courtship. She also said that, if she had known about Douglas' background, she would not have married him. The allegations about Douglas' background included five marriages before he married Smith, multiple children that he did not claim and disclose to Smith, and non-payment of income taxes for nearly a decade. The judge in the case granted Smith an annulment of the marriage in December 2015 on the basis of fraud committed by Douglas. Smith is involved in some off-screen ventures, such as an organic perfume line titled "US", which she launched in 2011 with Keith Douglas, who, at the time, was her then-husband and manager.
