Keean Johnson
Birth placeBoulder, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active2013–present
Birth dateOctober 25, 1997 (age 28)

Keean Johnson (born c. October 25, 1997)[1] is an American actor who is known for his lead role as Adam Freeman in action horror adventure series Spooksville (2013–2014).[2]

Johnson played one of the lead roles, Hugo, in the film Alita: Battle Angel (2019).[3] He is also known for his lead role in the films Low Tide (2019)[4][5] and The Ultimate Playlist of Noise (2021).[6]

Early life

Johnson was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado. His father is British and his mother is American-Chilean. He has a younger brother, Cade Johnson. His first professional acting debut came at the age of 11 at the Denver Center for Performing Arts in the play Plainsong. It was at this same time that the casting director Nora Brennan for the Broadway musical Billy Elliot cast him in the show which went on to win the Tony for Best Musical in 2008.[7]

Acting career

Television

Johnson began his professional acting career as an actor at the age of 16, when he appeared in episodic roles in the television shows: Switched at Birth, Notorious and Joe Pickett.

Johnson made his television debut in 2013, he was cast to play the lead role of Adam Freeman in the action horror adventure series Spooksville alongside Katie Douglas, Nick Purcha and Morgan Taylor Campbell, based on Christopher Pike's novel of the same name, which that aired on the Hub Network from late 2013 to 2014.[8][9]

From 2014 to 2016, Johnson played the recurring role of Colt Wheeler in the musical drama show Nashville.[10]

In 2015, Johnson appeared on the third season of the family drama series The Fosters, which he played the role of Tony.[11][better source needed] Johnson appeared on the second season in the teen drama web series Guidance, he played the main role of Kyo 'Ozo' Ozonaka, which was second season released in late 2016.[12] Johnson appeared on the first season of the teen drama series Euphoria, which he played the recurring role of Daniel, based on the Israeli miniseries of the same name.[13][better source needed]

In 2023, Johnson was cast to play the main role of Vernon Howell in the crime drama miniseries Waco: The Aftermath, developed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, which was premiered in the first half of 2023, on Showtime.[14][15]

Film

In 2016, Johnson made his feature film debut in the comedy-drama film Heritage Falls starring David Keith, he played the role of Markie Fitzpatrick, which was released in the second half of 2016.[16][17] Johnson's break-out role came in 2019, when he played the role of Hugo in the cyberpunk action film Alita: Battle Angel starring Rosa Salazar, directed by Robert Rodriguez, based on Yukito Kishiro's manga series Gunnm, which was world premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on January 31, 2019 and released in early 2019.[18]

Johnson also co-starred Alexandra Daddario, Maddie Hasson, Amy Forsyth, Logan Miller and Austin Swift in the horror thriller film We Summon the Darkness, directed by Marc Meyers and written by Alan Trezza, which was premiered at Mammoth Film Festival in early 2019, and was released in digital and on-demand in the United States in the first half of 2020, by Saban Films.[19][20]

Johnson starred alongside Jaeden Martell, Alex Neustaedter and Kristine Froseth in the 2019 drama film Low Tide, directed by Kevin McMullin, which he played the lead role, which was premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in the first half of 2019 and was theatrically released in late 2019.[21]

Johnson played the role of Chief Aviation Radioman James Murray in the war film Midway directed by Roland Emmerich, which was released in late 2019.[22][23]

In 2020, Johnson played Rufus Kelly in the historical drama film Emperor stars Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Kat Graham, and Bruce Dern, directed by Mark Amin, which was released in mid-2020.[24][25] On the same year, he appeared in the heist film Cut Throat City directed by RZA, which was released in mid-2020, by Well Go USA Entertainment.[26]

Johnson starred in the romantic comedy-drama film by Bennett Lasseter titled The Ultimate Playlist of Noise with Madeline Brewer, which was released in early 2021.[27][28]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2016Heritage FallsMarkie Fitzpatrick
2019Alita: Battle AngelHugo
Low TideAlan
We Summon the DarknessMark
MidwayJames Murray
2020EmperorRufus Kelly
Cut Throat CityJunior
2021The Ultimate Playlist of NoiseMarcus

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013Spooksville Freak FilesAdam FreemanWeb series[29]
2013–2014SpooksvilleAdam FreemanMain role
2014Switched at BirthAngelo 'A.J.' Sorrento Jr.Episode: "Yuletide Fortune Tellers"
2014–2016NashvilleColt WheelerRecurring role, 22 episodes
2015The FostersTonyRecurring role, 6 episodes
2016NotoriousFinnEpisode: "Tell Me a Secret"
GuidanceOzoMain role (season 2)
2019EuphoriaDanielRecurring role, 6 episodes
2023Joe PickettLuke BrueggemanMain role (season 2)
Waco: The AftermathVernon Howell5 episodes

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryWorkResult
2013Young Artist AwardBest Performance in a TV Series – Supporting Young ActorSpooksville
Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV SeriesSpooksville

References

  1. ^ "Keean Johnson – The 22 Year Old Quadruple Threat". Flaunt Magazine. February 13, 2019.
  2. ^ "Keean Johnson Chats "Spooksville"!". Sweety High. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  3. ^ "Young Spooksville actor Keean Johnson gushes about filming on Vancouver Island among 'nicest people'". The Official Tourism Tofino. April 1, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  4. ^ "Low Tide". Tribeca Film Festival. Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  5. ^ Hayes, Dade (March 5, 2019). "Tribeca Film Festival Unveils Feature Lineup, With Screen Time For John DeLorean, Muhammad Ali, Chelsea Manning". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 5, 2019.
  6. ^ "Syracuse movie debuts on Hulu Friday, 'The Ultimate Playlist of Noise'". CNY Central. January 15, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  7. ^ Reid, Michael D. "TV star Keean Johnson takes a spooky ride to stardom". Times Colonist. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  8. ^ "The Hub to Launch Brand New Series SPOOKVILLE, 10/26"
  9. ^ "The Hub launches 2012-13 program slate". KidScreen. March 1, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
  10. ^ Kit, Borys (2016-09-30). "'Nashville' Actor Nabs Key Role in 'Alita: Battle Angel' (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  11. ^ "The Fosters - Keean Johnson as Tom, Tony". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  12. ^ Todd Spangler (October 12, 2016). "Arden Rose, Erica Dasher Star in 'Guidance' Season 2 on Verizon Go90". Variety. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
  13. ^ "Keean Johnson as Daniel - Euphoria". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  14. ^ White, Peter (February 24, 2021). "Paramount+ Builds On 'Waco' With 'American Tragedy' Anthology Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived December 11, 2022 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  15. ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 18, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 4.16.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
  16. ^ "INSP Films Begins Production on "Heritage Falls"". PR Web. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  17. ^ Williams, Alan (30 August 2016). "Keeping the Faith with actor David Keith and new movie". WVLT-TV. Archived from the original on July 16, 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  18. ^ Entertainment Desk (2019-02-08). "Alita Battle Angel actor Keean Johnson: Wanted to bring a vulnerability to Hugo". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  19. ^ "We Summon the Darkness". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
  20. ^ "We Summon the Darkness – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  21. ^ "Starring Jaeden Martell, Keean Johnson, Shea Whigham, Alex Neustaedter, Daniel Zolghadri, and Kristine Froseth — #LowTide Opens in Select Theaters 10/4 and exclusively on @DIRECTV Cinema 9/5.". No. 1159511947185967110. August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  22. ^ Deckelmeier, Joe (2019-11-07). "Darren Criss & Keean Johnson Interview: Midway". Screen Rant. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  23. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (2018-08-10). "Roland Emmerich's 'Midway' Enlists Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Tadanobu Asano, Keean Johnson, Ahead Of Fall Shoot". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  24. ^ Debruge, Peter (August 15, 2020). "'Emperor' Review: A Runaway Slave Joins the Raid on Harpers Ferry in Forgotten Tale of Black Heroism". Variety
  25. ^ Pape, Stefan (August 18, 2020). "Exclusive: Experienced producer Mark Amin on directorial debut Emperor and upcoming Zorro reboot". HeyUGuys. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  26. ^ "Cut Throat City - St. Louis Times". Riverfront Times. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  27. ^ "The Ultimate Playlist of Noise (2021) – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  28. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (January 13, 2021). "Hulu's The Ultimate Playlist Of Noise Review: A Standard Coming Of Age Drama With Cute, Emotional Moments". CinemaBlend. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  29. ^ "Spooksville". Hubworld. Archived November 19, 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 16, 2020.