Cortez Smith doesn’t play about his clothes. The man behind Nuck, the cunning and savvy leader of the 63rd Street Mob on the longrunning hit Showtime series “The Chi,” is also a fashion savant. Inspired by the fashions of his uncle, mother and grandmother back in the day, Smith showed up to The TRiiBE Studio with a garment bag full of pieces from his new clothing line, Eros Christian.
“It’s, like, half fashion mixed with streetwear. I love denim and I love leather, and I collage the two worlds together. That’s what creates my brand,” Smith told The TRiiBE about Eros Christian, which he launched in May. Sometimes, Smith said, he prefers to wear his own clothes on set, a piece of himself which shines through his portrayal of Nuck on screen.
“I have a crocodile skin jacket — one of my favorites. It took a long time to perfect it because the hide of a crocodile is dried out a little bit, so it takes a lot of processing to get it to shape how you want it,” Smith said about the jacket he’s rocking in our cover photo. “The lining of the jacket is red, to have that pop in the mix with that black, man, it gives it an electrifying feel.”
Smith is reminiscing about his time on “The Chi,” a gritty drama based and set in Chicago that centers love, loyalty, and life on the city’s South and West sides. Now in its 8th and final season, which premiered on May 22, the show will conclude with its final episode airing on Paramount + on July 24.
“After ‘The Chi’ wraps up, there’s gonna be, like, a hole in the universe of television. It’s gonna leave a hole,” Smith said about the ending of a show that strived to capture the essence of being Black in Chicago.
Authenticity is one of the biggest throughlines of “The Chi.” A good chunk of the cast and crew hail from the city. Smith, a West Side native, made his debut as “Nuck” in season 3, which aired in 2019 — just before the 2020 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike left him discouraged and out of work.
That’s when “The Chi” creator and Chicagoland native Lena Waithe, according to Smith, told him not to give up during the industry shutdown and promised she had “something special” planned for him once production resumed.
When the show returned, Waithe expanded Smith’s role. His character’s big moment came in the season 6 finale (spoiler alert!) when he killed Douda, the show’s main antagonist, and took over his gang, the 63rd Street Mob. This allowed Smith to lean into what makes “The Chi” so good — using real-life experiences, and the culture to create a multi-layered emotional performance that feels true to Nuck’s character arc.
Now, Smith shines as the show’s main antagonist; a role he relishes, and hasn’t taken for granted.
“To get the torch passed down from Curtis Cook (who played Douda), and be blessed in that role, like, ‘You got it now, brother. It’s yours, you got the keys.’ And for them to just go into season 7 and allow me to just maneuver how I want to; that was the first season that I actually act on, that I didn’t have to be under anyone,” Smith said. “Everything I had, I had to show right there.”
Before we knew him as Nuck on “The Chi,” Smith was just another kid navigating life in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood. He grew up off Quincy Street and Laverne Avenue, a.k.a. L Town.
”Growing up in a poverty-based community, you got to be quick on your feet, and you got to be a quick thinker. Just like the streets of Chicago, some of the most dangerous people are the most beautiful, are the coolest, flyest, and they will snatch your life away from you. Same with the industry,” Smith said.
He developed a love for the camera when his mom bought their first camcorder. “When [my family] first got their hands on that camcorder, I was always in front of it. I’m reenacting my favorite TV shows, my cartoons,” he said.
After his uncle was killed in 2010, Smith’s mom and grandmother were afraid he might end up going down a path with a similar outcome. They pushed him into a Pro Scout competition that led to him signing with Babes and Beaus modeling and talent agency.
While viewers may only see the finished product on screen, Smith said the reality of building an acting career is far less glamorous behind the scenes.
“What you see on camera is the easiest part of my job. I promise you. But having sleepless nights, getting up at wee hours in the morning, working 15-hour days, going to sleep, getting up doing press, keeping this smile on your face, while you’re having family issues… it’s a lot,” Smith said.
Smith is surrounded by pressure: “I have people around me, they switch up because they only getting the crumbs of what I get. They feel like they’re bigger than the program. If you got a problem with holding a bag, you can’t be around me.”
And then there’s the industry pressure. For example, during the 2020 WGA strike, or even when he’s in between acting gigs, Smith still has to find a way to keep the ball rolling.
“You got to figure out in the moments between, when them lights is off, how you gonna get them turned back on while still having bills, while still having responsibilities, while still having a brand that you gotta uphold?” the 32-year-old father said. “Every day, I’m on a consistent journey of figuring it out.”
Instead of bottling up the emotional rollercoaster of being in showbiz, Smith used his Nuck character as an outlet. He said Nuck’s character arc mirrored his journey.
“If you go through the seasons, it’s power first. In season five, it’s trying to fit in, then it’s loyalty. Now it’s respect, now it’s survival, now it’s family,” Smith said.
“The Chi” is only one part of what Smith hopes will become a long-lasting career in entertainment and business. Off screen, the actor has been building multiple ventures rooted in both creativity and community impact.
There’s his fashion line, Eros Christian, of course. Beyond fashion and entertainment, though, Smith also founded Cortez Cares nearly two years ago. It’s a nonprofit focused on men’s mental health and supporting underserved communities through initiatives like school supply giveaways and shoe drives. He credits artists like rapper Vic Mensa, along with organizations such as the YMCA, The Peace Corner Youth Center and Mercy Housing, for inspiring his approach to philanthropy.
As an actor, Smith is determined to show audiences he can play far more than intimidating characters like Nuck. He recently worked on a series in Atlanta with Smoot Films, titled “I Got A Story To Tell,” portraying a soft-spoken character named Nelson — someone he described as the complete opposite of his role on “The Chi.” It’s streaming on BET+ and Tubi.
He is also stepping into theater, too, through the stage play “Man of the House,” where he plays a waiter. The traveling show is hitting Charlotte, North Carolina next on July 18 at the Central Piedmont Parr Center Theater.
And, on June 3, Smith signed with Exclusive Artists Agency for representation and Untamed Artists LA for management.
Rather than being boxed into one type of role, Smith wants to become a “journeyman” actor capable of playing fathers, police officers, sci-fi characters and emotionally vulnerable roles alike.
Even with his growing visibility, Smith said he’s “still a hustler” and “a student to the game,” using every opportunity as a stepping stone toward becoming a household name.
“This ain’t the end all, be all. I’m really working on being a household name. This isn’t gonna be like, ‘Oh, I remember him 10 years ago.’ Nah, I’m gonna still be one of them for sure,” Smith said.
