- Stephen A. Smith tells PEOPLE that his job as a sportscaster will always “come first,” but he hopes to keep growing in his acting career as well
- Smith recently made his primetime TV debut with a guest role on Law & Order
- He also has a recurring role on General Hospital after first appearing on the popular soap opera for a cameo in 2016
Sports will always be Stephen A. Smith’s first love.
After making his primetime television debut on the May 8 episode of Law & Order, Smith is opening up about his multifaceted career. Originally a sports journalist, the 57-year-old began dabbling in acting several years ago, but he tells PEOPLE he never plans to make it a full-time gig.
“I’m always going to love sports and doing what I do,” he explains. “I mean, it’s made me who I am. Being synonymous with sports and giving sports commentary and being a sports journalist and broadcaster spanning the last three decades is obviously going to come first. I’ve never considered myself an actor or anything like that.”
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In fact, Smith, who tapped into his roots for his Law & Order guest role as “a tough-love sports agent” whose death leaves investigators with a long list of suspects, reveals he decided not to take on a bigger part to prioritize his sportscasting job, despite being “a huge fan of the show.”
“I did want to be a lawyer on the show, but that couldn’t happen because it would require a commitment spanning a multitude of days, and I don’t have that time available to me at this particular juncture because of the NBA season and the playoffs approaching and all of that other stuff,” he shares. “So I couldn’t do that. But outside of that, this was the next best thing. For me to appear on the show is just an incredible honor, and I was happy to do it.”
Smith first entered the acting space with a cameo on General Hospital in 2016, unexpectedly landing himself a recurring role as a tech guru for the mob named Brick.
“When the executive producer for General Hospital saw me and saw my talents on the set, he really, really believes that I have a set of natural skills that can really, really excel in this business,” Smith reveals. “So it’s something I’ve left the door open to because you never know what the future holds.”
Looking back, Smith attributes the beloved soap opera to helping him “get better at this particular craft,” noting that his guest role on Law & Order is a testament to that.
“I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that I would get a call from Law & Order to appear,” he admits. “So I mean, that’s primetime, that’s big time. It means the world to me to have this experience. And to be quite honest with you, I thought I stepped it up, and I thought that that’s the best I’ve been yet.”
Despite his excitement for his blossoming career in scripted TV, Smith says that he doesn’t have much interest in actually watching his performance.
“I try not to watch myself most of the time, believe it or not, because it’s on to the next,” he joked. “Meaning that I’m doing television on a daily basis, five days a week,” he continues, referring to his popular ESPN morning show, First Take, in which he covers the top sports news.
“I know that I’m only as good as my next show, so I don’t spend a lot of time reflecting and looking back,” he notes. “I march forward and just try to perfect my craft to the best of my ability. That’s usually my approach.”
