Born and raised on his families' Quarter Horse Ranch, Riley Smith grew up just outside of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During his senior year of high school, a modeling scout at the local mall discovered Smith and he subsequently moved to New York City. He began to do campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger and used the money to study his true passion: acting.
Within three months Smith was flown to Los Angeles to screen test for his first Pilot, Warner Brothers' "Minor Threat". He booked the pilot, and that was the beginning.
In the seventeen years Smith has called Los Angeles home he has managed to complete more than sixty-nine projects: thirteen pilots, nine series, and dozens of guest stars including notable recurring roles on Judd Apatow's "Freaks and Geeks," and Emmy award-winning "24."
Some of Smith's more notable credits were in films as diverse as "Radio" (Ed Harris, Cuba Gooding Jr.), "Eight-Legged Freaks", "Not Another Teen Movie", "New York Minute", as well as "Gallowalker" (Wesley Snipes) and "Weapons", the Sundance Grand Jury Nominee. More recently, Smith starred along side Andy Garcia and Mary-Louis Parker in the film "Christmas in Conway".
Smith's body of work not only showcases his versatility, but with each project comes an even more alluring performance than the last. This can be seen in recent years by observing Smith's rugged charm on HBO's "True Blood", Nicholas Sparks' "Deliverance Creek", and the much-anticipated second season of "True Detective".
Riley finished filming the Pilot based on Krista Vernon's real life story, titled "Studio City". It is produced by Warner Bros for FOX.
