Smart was born in Topanga, California to John Smart (a salesman) and Judy Carrington (who worked at the Getty Center in Los Angeles); she has a brother, Adam. Inspired by her friend (actress Vinessa Shaw), Smart studied ballet for ten years and enrolled in acting classes when she was 16, but began her career as a model, working in Italy, France, Mexico and Tahiti.

Smart had a very minor interesting role in the 1997 film Starship Troopers as the co-pilot for (and friend of) Carmen...