The daughter of a writer and a publicist (her mother Lois Smith has handled such clients as Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer), Smith has worked almost exclusively from her NYC base and has frequently been seen on stage. She earned strong reviews for her work as a victim in the 1991 Off-Broadway production "Walking the Dead" and in "The Triumph of Love" at Princeton's McCarter Theatre. For more than four years, she was a company member rehearsing "Uncle Vanya", directed by Andre Gregory at the Victory Theatre. She reprised the part in "Vanya on 42nd Street", which focused on the trials and tribulations of Gregory's troupe working on a production of the Chekhov play. Smith's take on Sonya varied from prior interpretations, presenting the character as intelligent and capable, not slow and pitiful.

Raised in Rockland County, New York, Smith attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and found work soon after graduation in an episode of the CBS drama "The Equalizer" (1988). That same year, she made her feature film debut in Alan Rudolph's stylish "The Moderns". The actress then alternated between stage and film, with small roles in "Mr. Wonderful" and as Matthew Broderick's flaky blind date in "The Night We Never Met" (both 1993). Smith appeared in Barbara Kopple's documentary "A Century of Women" (1994), was a willful female bonding with others at a yoga ranch in the independent feature "The Woman in the Moon" and an aspiring actress in Henry Jaglom's "Last Summer in the Hamptons" (both 1995). The following year, she was part of the ensemble casts of Robert Altman's "Kansas City" and Steve Buscemi's directorial debut "Trees Lounge". In 2001, Smith had her best role to date in "Series 7" as a very pregnant woman who was the reigning champion of a fictional TV series called "The Contenders" in which contestants had to kill one another to survive. Her character of Dawn returns to her hometown for the final round; if she survives, she would win her freedom. But first, she also had to confront demons from her past, including a former lover who is now pitted against her. Smith was terrific, running the gamut from cold-blooded killer to caring mother.