# Brooke Smith (actress)

Brooke Smith (born May 22, 1967) is an American actress, photographer and author, best known for her roles as Dr. Erica Hahn on the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy, as Sheriff Jane Greene on the A&E horror series Bates Motel, and as Catherine Martin in the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, along with roles in several movies and guest starring and recurring appearances in many television shows including Big Sky and Them.

## Early life

Smith was born in New York City. Her father, Eugene "Gene" Smith, worked as a publisher, and her mother, Lois Smith, worked as an entertainment publicist. In the 1980s, Smith grew up in Rockland County, in the greater New York metropolitan area, but was a part of the hardcore punk scene in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

## Career

Smith has appeared in numerous films, including The Moderns (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Night We Never Met (1993), Mr. Wonderful (1993), Vanya on 42nd Street (1994), Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995), Trees Lounge (1996), Kansas City (1996), The Broken Giant (1997), Random Hearts (1999), Series 7: The Contenders (2001), Bad Company (2002), Melinda and Melinda (2004), Iron Jawed Angels (2004), Shooting Vegetarians (2005), In Her Shoes (2005), The Namesake (2006), and Interstellar (2014).
She appeared as a guest star on the sixth season of Crossing Jordan as Dr. Kate Switzer, as one of Claire Fisher's art teachers on Six Feet Under, and on Weeds as the ex-wife of Peter Scottson, the late husband of main character Nancy Botwin.
Smith originated the role of Andrea in the pilot of the ABC drama series Dirty Sexy Money, but was replaced by Sheryl Lee after becoming a series regular on Grey's Anatomy. On November 3, 2008, Smith told Entertainment Weekly that her character was being written out of Grey's Anatomy, stating that she was "really, really shocked," and suggested that network executives' discomfort with her character's lesbian relationship might be the reason for her ousting. However, Shonda Rhimes, the show's creator, said that Smith was dismissed from the series because the writers did not find that the "magic and chemistry" that Smith's character had with Sara Ramirez's character, Callie Torres, would sustain in the long run.
Smith has also had roles on Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order, Criminal Minds and The Hunger. In 2012, Smith also appeared in the American Horror Story: Asylum episode "The Coat Hanger". In 2015, she appeared as Frances Simpson on the Showtime drama series Ray Donovan.
In 2016, Smith appeared in the recurring role of Sheriff Jane Greene in the fifth and final season of A&E's Bates Motel, a prequel series to director Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 horror classic Psycho.
In 2019, Smith portrayed Dara, a counselor assigned to a young rape victim, in Episode 7 of Unbelievable. It was released on September 13 on Netflix.
In 2020, she began a recurring role on the ABC series Big Sky.
In 2022, she released a photography book based on pictures she took of her friends in the Manhattan hardcore punk scene.

## Advocacy

On August 27, 2008, Smith spoke at an "Open the Debates" rally in Denver, Colorado, opposing the Commission on Presidential Debates exclusion of third party candidates from the nationally televised presidential debates, and in support of independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

## Personal life

Smith married Russian cinematographer Steve Lubensky on January 6, 1999. Their daughter, Fanny Grace Lubensky, was born on March 12, 2003. In May 2008, the couple adopted a baby girl, Lucy Dinknesh Lubensky, from Ethiopia. The family lives in New York's Upper West Side, and in Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles. She was once roommates with singer Jeff Buckley.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | The Moderns | Abigail | |
| 1989 | See You in the Morning | Additional Voice | |
| 1991 | The Silence of the Lambs | Catherine Martin | |
| 1993 | The Night We Never Met | Catha | |
| 1993 | The Pickle | 1st A.D. | |
| 1993 | Mr. Wonderful | Jan | |
| 1994 | Vanya on 42nd Street | Sonya | 3rd Place — Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female 3rd Place — National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1995 | Last Summer in the Hamptons | Lois Garfield | |
| 1996 | Trees Lounge | Tina | |
| 1996 | Kansas City | Babe Flynn | |
| 1997 | The Broken Giant | Rosemary Smith | |
| 1998 | Remembering Sex | Jennifer Sharp | |
| 1999 | Random Hearts | Sarah | |
| 2000 | Eventual Wife | Susan | |
| 2001 | Series 7: The Contenders | Dawn Lagarto | |
| 2001 | The Man Who Wasn't There | Sobbing Prisoner | |
| 2002 | For Earth Below | Dede | |
| 2002 | Bad Company | CIA Agent Swanson | |
| 2004 | Melinda and Melinda | Cassie | |
| 2004 | Iron Jawed Angels | Mabel Vernon | |
| 2005 | Shooting Vegetarians | The Chicken Man | |
| 2005 | In Her Shoes | Amy | |
| 2006 | The Namesake | Sally | |
| 2010 | A Little Help | Kathy Helms | |
| 2010 | Fair Game | Diana | |
| 2010 | The Aspern Papers | Tita Bordereau | |
| 2013 | Labor Day | Evelyn | |
| 2014 | Interstellar | Nurse | |
| 2015 | Road Hard | Carol | |
| 2015 | Day Out of Days | Annabel | |
| 2016 | The Call of Charlie | Diane | Short film |
| 2016 | Broken Links | Diane | |
| 2017 | To the Bone | Olive | |
| 2017 | The Angry River | Katherine Alsea | Short film |
| 2018 | Dude | Lorraine | |
| 2018 | Blood Clots | Diane | |
| 2019 | Bombshell | Irena Brigante | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | The Equalizer | Risa | Episode: "A Dance on the Dark Side" |
| 1996, 2005, 2007, 2023 | Law & Order | Various | 4 episodes |
| 1997 | The Larry Sanders Show | Tonya Bailey | Episode: "Make a Wish" |
| 1998 | Remembering Sex | Jennifer Sharp | TV film |
| 1998–1999 | The Hunger | Lee Cooper | 2 episodes |
| 1999 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Josephine Pitt | Episode: "Truth Will Out" |
| 2001 | Big Apple | Lois Mooney | Recurring role |
| 2001 | 100 Centre Street | Lynn Hoffman | Episode: "Bottlecaps" |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Tessa Rankin | Episode: "Phantom" |
| 2004 | Six Feet Under | Carolyn Pope | 3 episodes |
| 2006 | Heist | Sarah | Recurring role |
| 2006–2008 | Grey's Anatomy | Dr. Erica Hahn | Recurring role (seasons 2, 3, 5), main cast (season 4) Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series |
| 2007 | Crossing Jordan | Dr. Kate Switzer | Recurring role (season 6) |
| 2007 | Dirty Sexy Money | Andrea Smithson | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2007 | Weeds | Valerie Scottson | Recurring role (season 3) |
| 2010 | Criminal Minds | Barbara Lynch | Episode: "Mosley Lane" |
| 2012 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Delia Wilson | 3 episodes |
| 2012 | American Horror Story: Asylum | Dr. Gardner | Episode: "The Coat Hanger" |
| 2013 | Graceland | Marianne O'Connor | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2013–2015 | Ray Donovan | Frances Simpson | Recurring role (seasons 1–3) |
| 2016 | Nashville | Jackie Hudson | Episode: "It's Sure Gonna Hurt" |
| 2016 | Stitchers | Dr. Naomi Burke | Episode: "The Two Deaths of Jamie B." |
| 2017 | Hand of God | Lesley Levay | Episode: "I See That Now" |
| 2017 | Bosch | Captain Ellen Lewis | Recurring role (season 3) |
| 2017 | Bates Motel | Sheriff Jane Greene | Recurring role (season 5) |
| 2018 | Supergirl | Jacqueline Nimball | Episode: "Schott Through the Heart" |
| 2018 | The Crossing | Diana | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | The Good Doctor | Sybil Meeks | Episode: "Tough Titmouse" |
| 2018 | Chicago Med | Amber Young | Episode: "Death Do Us Part" |
| 2019 | Project Blue Book | Sara Downing | Episode: "The Flatwoods Monster " |
| 2019 | The Act | Myra | Episode: "Stay Inside" |
| 2019 | The Good Fight | Zelda Raye | Episode: "The One with the Celebrity Divorce" |
| 2019 | Unbelievable | Dara Kaplan | Episode #1.7 |
| 2019 | Prism | Bec Jamison | Unsold pilot |
| 2020 | Chris Watts: Confessions of a Killer | Tammy Lee | TV film |
| 2020–2021 | Big Sky | Merilee Legarski | Recurring role (season 1) |
| 2021 | FBI: Most Wanted | Flora Matthews | Episode: "Winner" |
| 2021 | Them | Helen Koistra | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Class of '09 | Drew | Miniseries; main cast |
| 2024 | Grotesquerie | Gale Hanover | Recurring role |
| 2025 | The Recruit | Marcy Potter | Recurring role (season 2) |

## Books

* Sunday Matinee: Photographs by Brooke Smith (Radio Raheem, 2022)