Carolyn Michelle Smith was born on July 8th, 1979 in Washington, DC. First Generation Trinidadian-American, Carolyn spent her childhood attending international private elementary schools in the Washington, DC area before moving with her mother to Atlanta, GA. She began acting in a local children's theater: The Doraville Arts Center under the guidance of Jim Ray James at the age of 9. Her mother Carol Angela Smith was a legal secretary, and her father Mervyn Thompson was a factory worker and flutist. Carolyn continued to focus on theater throughout her childhood and into her teen years. She attended Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, MD and was very active in the school's theater program, helping to also launch the school's very first Shakespeare Club. The school's Theater program was selected to represent American High School Theater at the International Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and it was during her time there at the age of 16 she decided to become an actress. After graduation, Carolyn was accepted to the Acting Program at Fordham University at Lincoln Center in New York. Upon graduation, she completed the Acting Apprenticeship at Actors Theater of Louisville in Louisville, KY. Returning to New York, Carolyn later decided to apply to grad school programs for theater. She was accepted to the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City on a full scholarship. Upon graduation she's performed for such notable companies as Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Old Globe Theatre (San Diego) The Barrow Street Theatre (Off-Broadway), and on Broadway in the 2013 production of "Romeo and Juliet" starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad. Her first on-screen role was opposite Robin Wright in "House of Cards" as "Willa" Claire's Chief of Staff. She was discovered by Los Angeles casting director April Webster, from her Guest Star role on "Law and Order: SVU" to be cast alongside Josh Holloway in Season 2's "Colony" for USA. She resides in Los Angeles and New York. Show less «