Roger Guenveur Smith

Acting

Roger Guenveur Smith

Born

1955-07-27 (71)

Place of birth

Berkeley, California, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

77 titles

Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1955) is an American actor and filmmaker, best known for his collaborations with director Spike Lee.

Known for

Third Watch poster
7.9

The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.

Third Watch

1999

Oz poster
8.0

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

Oz

1997

A Different World poster
7.2

A Different World is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities.

A Different World

1987

Murphy Brown poster
6.5

Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is a recovering alcoholic who returns to the fictional newsmagazine FYI for the first time following a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic residential treatment center. Over 40 and single, she is sharp tongued and hard as nails. In her profession, she is considered one of the boys, having shattered many glass ceilings encountered during her career. Dominating the FYI news magazine, she is portrayed as one of America's hardest-hitting (though not the warmest or more sympathetic) media personalities.

Murphy Brown

1988

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles poster
7.5

The series picks up four years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with John and Sarah Connor trying to stay under-the-radar from the government, as they plot to destroy the computer network, Skynet, in hopes of preventing Armageddon.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

2008

The Guardian poster
7.0

Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested for drug use, he's sentenced to do 1,500 hours of community service, somehow to be squeezed into his 24/7 cutthroat world of mergers, acquisitions and board meetings. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian - a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances.

The Guardian

2001

Film credits

2020s · 6 titles

Till poster
7.3

The true story of Mamie Till Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who, in 1955, was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi.

Till

2022

Riff Raff poster
5.8

A retired hitman's life is turned upside down when his ex-wife and son arrive unannounced during the holidays because they are on the run from his former mob associates.

Riff Raff

2025

Guns & Moses poster
5.6

Mo Zaltzman is a beloved Hasidic rabbi in a dusty desert town. When his congregation is violently attacked, police quickly arrest a young white nationalist who threatened them in the past, but Rabbi Mo doesn’t believe the troubled teen is a killer. Since no one else will investigate, Rabbi Mo becomes the detective. As bodies pile up, he must learn how to use a gun to battle the real enemy.

Guns & Moses

2025

Influence poster
4.3

Carl Weber introduces us to the Hudsons, a family of African-American lawyers lead by famed attorney Bradley Hudson. They are handed the task to defend Grammy Award Winning singer Savannah who has been charged with the murder of her husband Kyle Kirby.

Influence

2020

God with Us poster
NR

In an urban Maryland neighborhood, virginal Mary Anne Thomas and her boyfriend Joseph 'Junie' Love find their lives turned upside down when Mary discovers she’s miraculously pregnant without ever being with a man. As disbelief, danger, and divine destiny converge, their love is tested in a community desperate for hope.

God with Us

2026

Real Talk poster
8.7

While humorous, sarcastic and sometimes harsh, Dominique the Dame brings to the forefront America's contemporary views on race, sex, drugs, religion and technology through her listeners who call into her show "Real Talk." The radio program takes on a greater meaning when Dame mobilizes her listeners in a race against time to save the life of a pregnant teenager.

Real Talk

2021

2010s · 20 titles

Empire State poster
5.4

After failing to get into the police academy, Chris Potamitis settles for a security guard job with an armoured truck company. After he makes the mistake of mentioning the company's lax security to his best friend, He's unwittingly drawn into an elaborate scheme to rob the abundant amounts of cash being stored on their premises—resulting in the largest cash heist in U.S.history.

Empire State

2013

Abduction poster
5.8

For many years, Nathan Harper has had the uneasy feeling that life with his family isn't quite what it seems. As he draws closer to uncovering the truth, he is hunted by assassins, forcing him to flee with his neighbor, Karen, the only person he can trust.

Abduction

2011

Hollow Point poster
6.5

When his wife and daughter are senselessly murdered, a grieving man finds himself caught up in a war between a group of charismatic vigilantes and the crime that infests their city.

Hollow Point

2019

The Son of No One poster
5.1

A rookie cop is assigned to the 118 Precinct in the same district where he grew up. The Precinct Captain starts receiving letters about two unsolved murders that happened many years ago in the housing projects when the rookie cop was just a kid. These letters bring back bad memories and old secrets that begin to threaten his career and break up his family.

The Son of No One

2011

The Birth of a Nation poster
6.6

Nat Turner, a former slave in America, leads a liberation movement in 1831 to free African-Americans in Virginia that results in a violent retaliation from whites.

The Birth of a Nation

2016

Marshall poster
7.3

Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, battles through one of his career-defining cases.

Marshall

2017

Dope poster
7.0

Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.

Dope

2015

Bitch poster
5.3

A woman snaps and assumes the psyche of a vicious dog as her checked-out, philandering husband attempts to keep the family together.

Bitch

2017

Chi-Raq poster
5.7

A modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.

Chi-Raq

2015

The Clapper poster
4.9

Eddie Krumble works as a paid audience member for infomercials and experiences a whirlwind of overnight fame after a late-night talk show host publicizes his frequent infomercial appearances.

The Clapper

2018

In the Hive poster
5.0

Sixteen-year-old Xtra Keys hopes to raise his son better than his boozy, razor-edged mother raised him, and he just might get his wish when he's thrust into an unorthodox alternative school full of underprivileged boys.

In the Hive

2012

They Die by Dawn poster
2.7

Four outlaws with a bounty on each head, set a date for a shootout in Langston, Oklahoma. The last man takes the collective bounty. Violence and mayhem ensue.

They Die by Dawn

2013

Rodney King poster
5.1

Roger Guenveur Smith gives voice to the man at the center of the brutal police beating that helped fuel the 1992 LA uprising.

Rodney King

2017

It's Not About Jimmy Keene poster
NR

The police shooting of an unarmed black teen causes friction within a mixed-race Los Angeles family. Ivan, the youngest sibling, is stalked by visions of Jimmy Keene’s floating corpse. Torn between the opposing worldviews of his two older sisters, Ivan searches for his voice while the family divisions heighten after the parents take sides.

It's Not About Jimmy Keene

2019

The Queen of Hollywood Blvd poster
4.9

On her 60th birthday, the proud owner of a Los Angeles strip club, finds herself in hot water over a twenty-five year old debt to the mob, leading her on a downward spiral of violence and revenge through the underbelly of Los Angeles.

The Queen of Hollywood Blvd

2018

CornerStore poster
7.0

Chronicles one eventful hot summer day at a convenience store along Detroit's Six Mile Road. Owned by the Jenkins family, the store is operated by Earl Jenkins, a handsome, middle class, father of his son Gerard and daughter Gail. Gerard’s dream is leave life behind the counter and attend culinary school in New York with the dream of becoming a chef.

CornerStore

2011

Supermodel poster
3.5

A young girl from the Brooklyn housing projects goes from the subway to the runway becoming one of the most sought after models in the fashion industry. But in the high stakes world of fashion and beauty. Things aren't always as pretty and glamorous as they seem.

Supermodel

2015

Burning Shadow poster
6.0

Charlie, a down-on-his-luck loner, crosses paths with a blind homeless man who is his exact double. Perplexed and intrigued by the discovery, Charlie invites the man into his life.

Burning Shadow

2018

I’ll See You Around poster
6.5

Lucas, an everyman, navigates complicated personal relationships in the context of a drug crisis that grips the nation and his own family, now and in the past. Will he be able to commit to those close to him or will his commitments weigh him down?

I’ll See You Around

2019

In Sickness and in Health poster
6.5

Young and gorgeous with a fiancé who adores her, Faith seems to have it all. But with just days before their wedding, she's hiding a serious secret about her health, one she's terrified to share with her perfect guy, Norman. Will the truth keep her man by her side, or will it send him running? Can their love stay strong when tested by one of marriage's most challenging vows?

In Sickness and in Health

2012

2000s · 18 titles

American Gangster poster
7.6

Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

American Gangster

2007

Final Destination poster
6.6

After a teenager has a terrifying vision of him and his friends dying in a plane crash, he prevents the accident only to have Death hunt them down, one by one.

Final Destination

2000

Shade poster
6.2

Tiffany, Charlie and Vernon are con artists looking to up the ante from their typical scams. They figure a good way of doing this is taking down Dean "The Dean" Stevens, a well-known cardsharp, in a rigged game. However, they first need enough money to enter a game with Stevens, so they decide to strike a deal with fellow crook Larry Jennings to scam a local gangster -- which turns out to be a bad idea.

Shade

2003

Baby Boy poster
7.1

The story of Jody, a misguided, 20-year-old African-American who is really just a baby boy finally forced-kicking and screaming to face the commitments of real life. Streetwise and jobless, he has not only fathered two children by two different women-Yvette and Peanut but still lives with his own mother. He can't seem to strike a balance or find direction in his chaotic life.

Baby Boy

2001

Fighting poster
6.0

Small-town boy Shawn MacArthur has come to New York City with nothing. Barely earning a living selling counterfeit goods on the streets, his luck changes when scam artist Harvey Boarden sees that he has a natural talent for streetfighting. When Harvey offers Shawn help at making the real cash, the two form an uneasy partnership.

Fighting

2009

Mercenary for Justice poster
4.4

Mercenary John Seeger is one of the best in the business. John and his crew battle some soldiers on Galmoral Island in Southern Africa as they're trying to rescue the French Ambassador -- there's a coup going on. Some of John's soldiers unload their machine guns into the Ambassador and his family, blowing the mission and getting his best friend Radio Jones killed. He heads back to the US and visits Radio's wife Shondra to tells her the news, and then promises that he'll take care of her and her son Eddie. But shortly after he makes that vow, Shondra and Eddie get kidnapped.

Mercenary for Justice

2006

All About the Benjamins poster
5.9

Bounty hunter Bucum Jackson teams with the small-time con artist, Reggie Wright, that he is pursuing, in an attempt to locate a missing stash of diamonds and a lottery ticket worth millions of dollars. Bucum and Reggie find themselves in a race to the finish as they embark on an unlikely partnership that should -- when all is said and done -- prove beneficial to them both.

All About the Benjamins

2002

Fist of the Warrior poster
4.2

First-class assassin Lee Choe has spent years working for the mob. When his handler turns on him by killing his girlfriend and framing him for the murder, Lee stops at nothing to seek revenge. He fights back with a vengeance and violently punishes those who played a part in the death of his innocent love.

Fist of the Warrior

2007

Fatwa poster
2.9

In the midst of a personal crisis, junior senator Maggie Davidson ascertains that she's the subject of a terrorist plot.

Fatwa

2006

Cover poster
5.1

When someone is murdered on New Year's Eve, the prime suspect is Valerie Maas, a church-going home-maker whose life unravels when she discovers that her husband of many years has been leading a double life. Her strength of character and faith keep her going as the revelation of her husband's betrayal threatens to destroy all that they have known.

Cover

2007

Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later poster
7.0

In this documentary directed by Spike Lee, he interviews the cast and crew of his 1989 film DO THE RIGHT THING. It also includes footage from a twentieth-anniversary screening of the film.

Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later

2009

A Huey P. Newton Story poster
5.4

The story of how the radical Huey P. Newton developed the Black Panther Party based on his 10-point program for social reform.

A Huey P. Newton Story

2001

Confessions poster
1.7

Call girl by day, housewife by night, Tory seeks to put a stop to her secret occupation to save her family and herself, in this sexual thriller.

Confessions

2006

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives poster
5.2

When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors were transcribed and preserved by the Library of Congress. These first-person anecdotes, ranging from the brutal to the bittersweet, have been brought to vivid life in this unique HBO documentary special, featuring the on-camera voices of over a dozen top African-American actors.

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

I Believe in America poster
10.0

Three generations of one family, all involved at different levels with the Puerto Rican underground movement for independence, struggle with their need for identity and their need for a peaceful life, as the dying revolutionary movement struggles with new ideas and old ideals.

I Believe in America

2007

Hamlet poster
4.4

A revised version of the Shakespeare play set in turn-of-the-20th-century America, where a prince seeks revenge against his father's killer.

Hamlet

2000

The Warden poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

The Warden

2001

God's Waiting List poster
4.3

A gritty, heartfelt drama about a brother and sister who both start out with the American Dream of running their own business and being successful. Teresa goes about this dream in a good way, meaning she works hard and treats people right. Her brother, Solomon, is a hustler who borrows money from loan sharks to open a music store. When he doesnt pay, the sharks come after him, but it's his sister who ends up in a wheelchair. She doesn't know it was her brother's fault. The film follows how Solomon descends on a downward spiral while losing faith in everything, while Teresa becomes a stronger person as her faith increases. She eventually learns it was his fault, and they must come to terms and make amends.

God's Waiting List

2006

1990s · 14 titles

He Got Game poster
6.8

A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter prison sentence.

He Got Game

1998

King of New York poster
6.8

A former drug lord returns from prison determined to wipe out all his competition and distribute the profits of his operations to New York's poor and lower classes in this stylish and ultra violent modern twist on Robin Hood.

King of New York

1990

Malcolm X poster
7.5

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

Malcolm X

1992

Deep Cover poster
6.8

Black police officer Russell Stevens applies for a special anti-drug squad which targets the highest boss of cocaine delivery to LA—the Colombian foreign minister's nephew. Russell works his way up from the bottom undercover, until he reaches the boss.

Deep Cover

1992

Eve's Bayou poster
6.5

Summer heats up in rural Louisiana beside Eve’s Bayou, 1962, as the Batiste family tries to survive the secrets they’ve kept and the betrayals they’ve endured.

Eve's Bayou

1997

Poetic Justice poster
6.7

Still grieving after the murder of her boyfriend, hairdresser Justice writes poetry to deal with the pain of her loss. Unable to get to Oakland to attend a convention because of her broken-down car, Justice gets a lift with her friend, Iesha, and Iesha's postal worker boyfriend, Chicago. Along for the ride is Chicago's co-worker, Lucky, to whom Justice grows close after some initial problems. But is she ready to open her heart again?

Poetic Justice

1993

Summer of Sam poster
6.5

Spike Lee's take on the "Son of Sam" murders in New York City during the summer of 1977 centering on the residents of an Italian-American Northeast Bronx neighborhood who live in fear and distrust of one another.

Summer of Sam

1999

Get on the Bus poster
6.4

Fifteen Black men gather in South Central LA to take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in October 1995. Among the attendees are an eclectic set of characters, including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a Black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the March, including manhood, religion, politics, sexuality, and race.

Get on the Bus

1996

Tales from the Hood poster
6.3

A strange mortician tells four horrific tales to three drug dealers that he traps in a local funeral parlor.

Tales from the Hood

1995

Panther poster
6.3

In this sprawling, fictionalized history of the Black Panthers, 1960s Oakland becomes a war zone as the Panthers battle for the right to exist.

Panther

1995

The Color of Courage poster
6.0

Based on the landmark civil rights case Sipes vs. McGhee, The Color of Courage chronicles the friendship between a white woman and a black woman whose family, the McGhees, has moved into a previously all-white neighborhood. A McGhee granddaughter, Kathleen McGhee-Anderson, wrote the script.

The Color of Courage

1999

The O.J. Simpson Story poster
3.4

Dramatizes some of the more tawdry events in the relationship between O.J. Simpson and his wife, Nicole Brown, up to and including his arrest for Brown's murder.

The O.J. Simpson Story

1995

Incognito poster
7.0

A young socialite hires a bodyguard to protect her when an ex-convict begins stalking her.

Incognito

1999

Cosmic Slop poster
5.2

In the tradition of The Twilight Zone, this bizarre, thought-provoking trilogy addresses the destiny of the world's minorities: Part I: A conservative African American politician must choose between his people's survival and appeasing his white colleagues when space aliens propose to share their profound knowledge in exchange for all black people on earth. Part II: The Virgin Mary's appearance in an inner-city housing project forces a Hispanic priest to face the hidden cultural origins of Western religion. Part III: On the dawn of the "Black Revolution," an African American couple discovers who the "real" enemy is.

Cosmic Slop

1994

Series credits

Third Watch poster
7.9

The exploits of a group of men and women who serve the City of New York as police officers, firemen, and paramedics, all working the same fictional 55th precinct during the 3pm to 11pm shift - the 'Third Watch'.

Third Watch

1999

Oz poster
8.0

The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.

Oz

1997

A Different World poster
7.2

A Different World is a spin-off series from The Cosby Show and originally centered on Denise Huxtable and the life of students at Hillman College, a fictional mixed but historically black college in the state of Virginia. After Bonet's departure in the first season, the remainder of the series primarily focused more on Southern belle Whitley Gilbert and mathematics whiz Dwayne Wayne. The series frequently depicted members of the major historically black fraternities and sororities.

A Different World

1987

Murphy Brown poster
6.5

Murphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is a recovering alcoholic who returns to the fictional newsmagazine FYI for the first time following a stay at the Betty Ford Clinic residential treatment center. Over 40 and single, she is sharp tongued and hard as nails. In her profession, she is considered one of the boys, having shattered many glass ceilings encountered during her career. Dominating the FYI news magazine, she is portrayed as one of America's hardest-hitting (though not the warmest or more sympathetic) media personalities.

Murphy Brown

1988

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles poster
7.5

The series picks up four years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with John and Sarah Connor trying to stay under-the-radar from the government, as they plot to destroy the computer network, Skynet, in hopes of preventing Armageddon.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

2008

The Guardian poster
7.0

Nick Fallin is a hotshot lawyer working at his father's ultrasuccessful Pittsburgh law firm. Unfortunately, the high life has gotten the best of Nick. Arrested for drug use, he's sentenced to do 1,500 hours of community service, somehow to be squeezed into his 24/7 cutthroat world of mergers, acquisitions and board meetings. Reluctantly, he's now The Guardian - a part-time child advocate at Legal Aid Services, where one case after another is an eye-opening instance of kids caught up in difficult circumstances.

The Guardian

2001

All Rise poster
7.4

A look at the personal and professional lives of the judges, lawyers, clerks, bailiffs and cops who work at an L.A. County courthouse.

All Rise

2019

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker poster
7.5

An African American washerwoman rises from poverty to build a beauty empire and become the first female self-made millionaire.

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

2020

New York Undercover poster
7.3

New York Undercover is an American police drama The series stars Detective J.C. Williams and Detective Eddie Torres, two undercover detectives in New York City's Fourth Precinct who were assigned to investigate various crimes and gang-related cases.

New York Undercover

1994

Fallen Angels poster
6.6

A neo-noir anthology television series, set in somber Los Angeles right after World War II and before the election of American President John F. Kennedy. The episodes, although filmed in color, mimicked what had been done by Hollywood filmmakers during the film noir era of the 1940s and 1950s in terms of tone, look, and story content.

Fallen Angels

1993

Kings poster
7.6

A riveting drama about a modern day monarchy, a contemporary re-telling of the timeless tale of David and Goliath. This series is an epic story of greed and power, war and romance, forbidden loves and secret alliances -- and a young hero who rises to power in a modern-day kingdom.

Kings

2009

Eagleheart poster
6.8

Eagleheart is an action-comedy television series that premiered on February 3, 2011, on Adult Swim.

Eagleheart

2011

K Street poster
4.9

An experimental fusion of reality and fiction--a fly-on-the-wall look at government, filmed in and around the corridors of power in Washington. The series ventures inside the world of powerful political consultants--a world that few people ever experience first-hand. Produced on location in Washington, D.C., the largely improvised ten-episode series combines fictional characters with appearances by real-life political figures, all centered around the biggest political news of the week.

K Street

2003

Behind the camera