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Kerr Smith was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on March 9, 1972 and grew in Exton, a suburb of Philidelphia, PA with his parents and his younger sister, Allison. He got his famous name, "Kerr", from his grandmother's maiden name.
In high school, he excelled in sports and politics, winning both class and school presidential campaings. During his sophomore year of high school, he made his first dramatic performance playing Sir Edward Ramsey in the school's production of "The King and I". He couldn't imagine how important this expierence would be in the future.
He graduated from high school in 1990 and enrolled in the University of Vermont. Following his financial advisor father's advice, he majored and graduated in "something sensible", Business Administration (Business & Accounting). Kerr always has defined these days as "very social", and probably as a Kappa Sigma, Chief Justice Of the Greek Judicial Board and a menber of the ski patrol of Stove, Vermont, they were.
After graduation, Smith returned to Exton to start a business in marketing with his father. But shortly, after opening it, he realized he wasn't enjoying his career. Kerr loved the making presentations but hated the selling aspect. It was time to give acting a try.
Kerr Smith worked as an extra in the movie "Twelve Monkeys" (Terry Gilliam) where he had the opportunity to discover he had made the right decision. He loved being an actor, .
The beginnings are never easy, and although he continued working on commercials and he even landed a small role on the hit TV show "Baywatch", He still needed this big opportunity that all young actors hope for. He didn't have to wait too long.
Nine months later, he got his first significant part as Ryder Hughes on "As the World Turns", a CBS daytime drama in 1996. This show is decisive in Smith's career because not only did he start being well known, but he also won his first acting award for BEST NEW ACTOR from Soap Opera Magazine. Unfortunately for all his fans, in May 1997 he left the show.
Kerr auctioned for a part in "Party of Five" and for a new role on "Another World" but all that fell through. Finally one day he crossed paths with Kevin Williamson and everything changed:
After auditioned half a dozen times, Smith won the role of JacK McPhee during the second season of the popular WB show "Dawson's Creek"
Performing this introvert kid who had to deal with a lot of family problems, and being a gay teen in a small town, Kerr won everybody's afection and was confirmed as a famous television star. Now three years later, his character is more popular than ever and he even won a GLAAD award for his portrayal of Jack. Kerr only had a matter pending, the cinema.
Through these last years, Kerr Smith has participated in two independent films very well known in cinema festivals- "Kiss & Tell and "Hit and Runway". Both of them premiered the LA Independent Film Festival.
He also was a guest in "The Broken Hearts League", directed by Greg Berlanti, very well known by the "Dawson's Creek" fans since Greg is one of the executive producers of the show. He took this cameo as a gay character because, Greg asked him as a favor, being that this was just his this debut as a director.
But it was "Final Destination", the movie that marks Kerr's first jump onto the big screen in a major motion picture. His role of Carter Horton gave him excellent critics and the opportunity of playing a role completely different to Jack McPhee, his character on "Dawson's Creek".
His next film was The Forsaken" where share he shares protagonism with another big TV star, Brendan Fehr, known for this role of Michael on the popular TV show "Roswell". In "The Forsaken" Kerr plays the part of Sean and Kerr describes the movie as:- "It's 'Easy Ryder 'crossed with 'The lost boys'. It's a desert buddy movie, with the vampire theme added in there and an unbelievable cast"
This year, despite the fifth season of "Dawson's Creek", Kerr Smith'll start the NBC movie "Ground Zero", and adaptation of James Mills's novel "The Seventh Power". "Ground Zero" involves two college students (Kerr and Katherine Heigl) helping the goverment track down a nuclear device stolen by terrorist. The other project is an independent called Pressure. He play a med student who gets framed for shooting a cop.
Although, acting is his life, another one of his passions is the music. He has his own digital recording studio and it's producing, writing (both lyrics and music) and recording his first album which is untitled at this point. Kerr has said that the group that's influenced him the most is the "Dave Mathews Band", and he's declared himself to be a bif fan of theirs.
Kerr's also formed a production company "Proudest Monkey Entertainment" with his friend Adam Frank and their first project'll be a film based on the life of the late actor Montgomery Clift for HBO. Kerr is thinking of starring the film which would be his fourth role portraying a gay person!
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