Smith grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Hilliard Darby High School in 2005.

[3] While at Otterbein University, he was cast in such plays as The Scene, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Tartuffe.

He appeared in a short horror movie, Dog Food, co-starring Amanda Seyfried and premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest in March.

Smith also appeared in the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge and the film Carol.

Smith has also narrated an episode of The New York Times Modern Love Podcast, for which he read Kalle Oskari Mattila's essay about catfishing.