Renée Felice Smith was only supposed to be on NCIS: Los Angeles for six episodes. As she puts it, “I just kind of stuck around.” The truth is, the producers enjoyed the depth and chemistry her character, intelligence analyst Nell Jones, brought to the story lines, and they made her an integral part of the show.
Acting is nothing new for this NYU Tisch School of the Arts honors graduate. A year before she joined the cast of NCIS: Los Angeles, she appeared in the off-Broadway production of Wildflower. Yet, for all the love this native New Yorker has for the arts, her passion for animals runs just as deep. This past June her French Bulldog, Hugo, turned 3. To Smith, he is much more than a pet; he’s her inspiration. So much so that Smith is developing a children’s book series starring Hugo.
