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Filmmaker Maureen Foley first wrote the character of Jack with Billy Smith in mind, and eventually she called on him to collaborate on the script.
This talented actor has real expertise in changing the course of his life. Smith first met Foley when he was a student in her screenwriting class at Harvard University Extension School. At the time, he was a police officer.
Smith had already served with the Marines in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, and in Thailand as a volunteer English teacher, before he joined the police department in his native Boston. But during his five years on the force -- between assignments in an anti-crime unit and a Rapid Response Car -- Smith began to forge a new path. He took writing classes, scripting and producing several short films. He also studied and performed at the renowned American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) in Cambridge, and at its joint program with the Moscow Art Theater.
Finally, he was ready for a clean break from the Boston Police Department. But rather than heading for Hollywood, he set off for war-torn East Timor, as part of the United Nations peacekeeping mission. There, he wrote a screenplay which he workshopped with local actors. When his U.N. commitment was fulfilled, he brought a crew from Australia and shot the first feature ever filmed in East Timor. The movie HELLO, TIMOR is currently in post-production.
On his return stateside, Smith went to New York, and soon landed leading roles in off-off Broadway productions, performing with the L.I.F.T. Group at the prestigious Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and at the Cherry Lane Theatre in Manhattan. In January, 2004, his starring performance in Emily Mann’s “Still Life,” was hailed as “outstanding…capturing layers of complexity.” AMERICAN WAKE is Smith’s first starring role in a feature film.
