Antonique Smith

Antonique Smith is an American actress, Broadway performer, and Grammy-nominated singer born on August 11, 1983, in East Orange, New Jersey. She attended Eastern Christian High School in North Haledon, New Jersey.

Smith made her Broadway debut in 1996 in Jonathan Larson's Rent, taking on the role of Mimi. Her visibility in the production extended beyond the stage: she served as the poster girl for the show, with her image appearing on taxi cabs throughout New York City and on posters distributed nationally. She eventually departed the role to pursue recording work and expand her film career.

Her television debut came through Sidney Lumet's 100 Centre Street, in which she portrayed a teenage drug addict. She went on to guest star on Law & Order and HBO's Bored to Death, and appeared in the Golden Globe-nominated film Across the Universe. Her film career gained significant attention when she was cast as Faith Evans in Notorious, a biographical film centered on the life of rapper The Notorious B.I.G. She also played CIA agent Sandra Burns in the action film Abduction, alongside Taylor Lautner and Alfred Molina, and appeared in Yelling to the Sky with Zoe Kravitz, Gabourey Sidibe, and Jason Clarke.

Smith starred in the TV One romantic comedy Stock Option, which premiered to record ratings for the network, and appeared in the Netflix film Deuces. She had a role in the FOX drama series Shots Fired, executive produced by Brian Grazer and Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Sanaa Lathan, Richard Dreyfuss, Helen Hunt, and Stephen Moyer. She co-wrote the single and theme song for that series and vocalized on the score in the riot scene of Episode 6, which was composed by Terence Blanchard. Smith also starred in season 2 of the Netflix series Marvel's Luke Cage and appeared in season 3 of the NatGeo anthology series Genius, subtitled Genius: Aretha, playing Barbara Franklin, the mother of Aretha Franklin, opposite Courtney B. Vance and Cynthia Erivo.

In music, Smith released her debut single, "Hold Up Wait a Minute (Woo Woo)," on 9:23 Music Group. The accompanying video was directed by Larenz Tate, co-starred Lance Gross and King Bach, and was released on December 2, 2014, through Essence Online. The single earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. She co-wrote the nominated track. In 2015, Smith released the EP Love Is Everything, which had been funded through a Kickstarter campaign launched in 2012 that raised over $50,000 within 30 days. Rapper Nas mentioned Smith on his 2012 single "Nasty," from the album Life Is Good, and she made a cameo in the song's music video. She also starred in Rick Ross's "Amsterdam" music video, which surpassed 8 million views within its first two days of release.

Smith has been active in environmental advocacy, with a particular focus on climate and environmental justice. She appeared on H.O.M.E. (Heal Our Mother Earth), described as the first album about climate change, and participated in the Act on Climate tour with the Hip Hop Caucus. She performed at the Pope's climate rally in Washington, D.C. Climate activist Bill McKibben dubbed her the voice of the climate movement. Smith also served as the voice of Virgin Mobile USA.