Born in California in 1976 to John Smart and Judy Carrington, Amy Smart studied ballet for ten years before considering acting. At 16 she enrolled in an acting class, and then launched a career as a model. Her modeling career was a success-she appeared internationally and here in America. Although her early roles were minor, she landed a role in the popular teen film Varisty Blues, and her career was launched.

Much of Amy Smart's work has been in teen films, and many were successful, such as The Butterfly Effect and Road Trip. She has earned accolades for her looks as well, making Stuff Magazine's list of the 100 sexiest women in the world in 2002. Her other movies include Starship Troopers, Starsky & Hutch, and Just Friends (a high box office gross romantic comedy hit starring Smart and Ryan Reynolds). She not only does work in film, but has also dabbled in television. She has had roles in Scrubs and Smith, and also did voice-overs for some of the Robot Chicken series characters.

Amy Smart is not just an actress and model. She is also an activist. She has as speaker for "Health the Bay," which is a "nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to making Southern California coastal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean." She has also worked with the Humane Society and is a vegetarian. In 2004 Organic Style magazine named her one of their Women with Organic Style. She is friends with Amelia Kinkade, animal communicator. She is also on the board of directors of the Environmental Media Association and is heavily involved in women's issues through the Step Up Women's Network.

Her most recent released movie, Crank, and action crime drama, was released in 2006, with Smart playing the girlfriend of the main character. Life in Flight, currently in post production, will make her 36th release in film, although she has made many other appearances in interviews and talk shows.