2007 film American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, in which he played the role of "Nate", Frank Lucas's army connection in Vietnam. Most recently he played the role of "Isaiah" in the 2016 film The Birth of a Nation, a film about the life of Nat Turner. Smith also had a recurring role in the hit HBO series Oz. Juan and John, written and performed by Guenveur Smith, is based on baseball's most famous fight--San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal clubbing Johnny Roseboro of the Los Angeles Dodgers with his bat during a 1965 battle for the pennant at Candlestick Park—which traumatized the playwright as a child. Smith portrayed American black leader Booker T. Washington in the 2020 Netflix miniseries Self Made, based on the life of Madame C. J. Walker. Personal life Smith works and resides in Los Angeles, California, and also resides in New York City. He is divorced from Carolina Smith, the mother of his adult daughter. He and his wife, LeTania Kirkland Smith, have three children. Filmography References External links Roger Guenveur Smith; aveleyman 1955 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Occidental College alumni Writers from Berkeley, California Yale School of Drama alumni Male actors from Berkeley, California American male dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American male writers