This article is about the actor. For the 28thGovernor of Vermont, see J. Gregory Smith.
Gregory Edward Smith (born July 6, 1983) is a Canadian/American actor. He began working as a child actor in the mid 1990s, initially appearing in a number of made-for-video and television films, and subsequently starred in the 1998 summer film Small Soldiers. Smith has since appeared in several Hollywood films, and has become known for his role as Ephram Brown on the television series Everwood.
Smith was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the son of Terrea (née Oster), an American teacher, and Maurice Smith, a British-born, Vancouver-based producer of low-budget films. Smith's mother appeared in several of the films that his father produced during the 1980s. Smith has two brothers, Andrew and Douglas, who is also an actor, and a younger sister, Samantha. He grew up in Vancouver and is a U.S. citizen.
Smith began acting when he was fourteen months old, and appeared in a Tide television commercial and in store catalogues. After a role in the 1994's children's film Andre, he starred in the 1995 direct-to-video release Leapin' Leprechauns and its 1996 sequel, Spellbreaker: Secret of the Leprechauns. Also in 1996, Smith appeared opposite Michelle Trachtenberg in Harriet the Spy. He subsequently starred in another direct-to-video film, Shadow Zone: My Teacher Ate My Homework, and appeared in three 1998 films: Krippendorf's Tribe, playing one of the children of the title character, The Climb, a drama also starring John Hurt, and the big-budget summer film Small Soldiers, in which Smith had a lead role opposite Kirsten Dunst and won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film Leading Young Actor in 1999. During the 2000s, Smith appeared in the Mel Gibson-led The Patriot (2000), played outlaw Jim Younger in the western American Outlaws (2001), and was cast in a lead role on The WB Television Network show, Everwood, which became a success and ran from 2002 until June 2006. His role on the show was described by The Independent Weekly as "one of the best portrayals of a thoughtful, alienated teenager on television". For this role, Smith won a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV series (Comedy or Drama) Leading Young Actor in 2003. During Everwood's filming, Smith owned a home on location in Park City, Utah. In 2005, Smith appeared in the comedy-drama film Kids in America, which had a regional release in the U.S. During the film, Smith shared the longest on-screen kiss with Stephanie Sherrin, timed at 5 minutes 57 seconds.
Smith's most recent role was in the independent film drama Nearing Grace, which received a limited theatrical release on October 13, 2006; in the film, which co-stars Ashley Johnson and Jordana Brewster, he plays Henry Nearing, a high school senior in the 1970s. The News & Observer's review of the film described Smith's character as "self-deluded" and "perpetually brow-furrowing", although The Seattle Times noted that Smith was "likable", and HeraldNet's review specified that a "better movie will make a star".
Smith will next appear in the Richard Attenborough-directed period romance Closing the Ring, playing a younger version of Christopher Plummer's character, as well as in the thriller Boot Camp, which co-stars Mila Kunis.
