Keean Johnson (born c. 1996/1997)[1] is an American actor who known for his lead role as Adam Freeman in action horror adventure series Spooksville.[2]
Keean Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Johnson at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | 1996 or 1997 (age 27–28) Boulder, Colorado, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2012–present |
Johnson played one of the lead roles, Hugo, in the film Alita: Battle Angel.[3] He is also known for his lead role in the film Low Tide as Alan[4][5] and The Ultimate Playlist of Noise as Marcus Lund.[6]
Early life
editJohnson 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
editTelevision
editJohnson 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 October 26, 2013 to May 17, 2014.[8][9]
From 2014 to 2016, Johnson played the recurring role of Colt Wheeler in the musical drama film Nashville.[10]
In 2015, Johnson appeared on the third season of the family drama series The Fosters, which he played the role of Tom / Tony.[11] 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 between November 14 to December 9, 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]
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 on April 16, 2023, on Showtime.[14][15]
Film
editIn 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 on September 2, 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 on February 14, 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 as Mark, directed by Marc Meyers and written by Alan Trezza, which was premiered at Mammoth Film Festival on February 28, 2019, and was released in digital and on-demand in the United States on April 10, 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 of Alan, which was premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 28, 2019 and was theatrically released on October 4, 2019.[21]
Johnson played the role of Chief Aviation Radioman James Murray in the war film Midway directed by Roland Emmerich, which was released on November 8, 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 on August 18, 2020.[24][25] On the same year, he appeared in the heist film Cut Throat City directed by RZA, which was released on August 21, 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 January 15, 2021.[27][28]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Sam Presents | Sam Armstrong | Short film |
| 2016 | Heritage Falls | Markie Fitzpatrick | |
| 2019 | Alita: Battle Angel | Hugo | |
| 2019 | Low Tide | Alan | |
| 2019 | We Summon the Darkness | Mark | |
| 2019 | Midway | James Murray | |
| 2020 | Emperor | Rufus Little | |
| 2020 | Cut Throat City | Junior | |
| 2021 | The Ultimate Playlist of Noise | Marcus |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Spooksville Freak Files | Adam Freeman | Web series[29] |
| 2013–2014 | Spooksville | Adam Freeman | Main role |
| 2014 | Switched at Birth | Angelo 'A.J.' Sorrento Jr. | Episode: "Yuletide Fortune Tellers" |
| 2014–2016 | Nashville | Colt Wheeler | Recurring role, 22 episodes |
| 2015 | The Fosters | Tony | Recurring role, 6 episodes |
| 2016 | Notorious | Finn | Episode: "Tell Me a Secret" |
| 2016 | Guidance | Ozo | Main role (season 2) |
| 2019 | Euphoria | Daniel | Recurring role, 6 episodes |
| 2023 | Joe Pickett | Luke Brueggeman | Main role (season 2) |
| 2023 | Waco: The Aftermath | Vernon Howell | 5 episodes |
Awards and nominations
edit| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a TV Series – Supporting Young Actor | Spooksville | Nominated |
| Outstanding Young Ensemble in a TV Series | Spooksville | Nominated |
References
edit- ^ "Keean Johnson – The 22 Year Old Quadruple Threat". Flaunt Magazine. February 13, 2019.
- ^ "Keean Johnson Chats "Spooksville"!". Sweety High. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Low Tide". Tribeca Film Festival. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Syracuse movie debuts on Hulu Friday, 'The Ultimate Playlist of Noise'". CNY Central. January 15, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ Reid, Michael D. "TV star Keean Johnson takes a spooky ride to stardom". Times Colonist. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
- ^ "The Hub to Launch Brand New Series SPOOKVILLE, 10/26".
- ^ "The Hub launches 2012-13 program slate". KidScreen. March 1, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2013.
- ^ Kit, Borys (September 30, 2016). "'Nashville' Actor Nabs Key Role in 'Alita: Battle Angel' (Exclusive)". hollywoodreporter.com. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "The Fosters - Keean Johnson as Tom, Tony". IMDb. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Todd Spangler (October 12, 2016). "Arden Rose, Erica Dasher Star in 'Guidance' Season 2 on Verizon Go90". Variety. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- ^ "Keean Johnson as Daniel - Euphoria". IMDb. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ White, Peter (February 24, 2021). "Paramount+ Builds On 'Waco' With 'American Tragedy' Anthology Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 11, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (April 18, 2023). "ShowBuzzDaily's Sunday 4.16.2023 Top 150 Cable Originals & Network Finals Updated". Showbuzz Daily. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
- ^ "INSP Films Begins Production on "Heritage Falls"". PR Web. April 25, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ Williams, Alan (August 30, 2016). "Keeping the Faith with actor David Keith and new movie". WVLT-TV. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
- ^ Entertainment Desk (February 8, 2019). "Alita Battle Angel actor Keean Johnson: Wanted to bring a vulnerability to Hugo". The Indian Express. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ "We Summon the Darkness". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
- ^ "We Summon the Darkness – Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ @lowtidemovie (August 8, 2019). "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" (Tweet). Retrieved August 8, 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ Deckelmeier, Joe (November 7, 2019). "Darren Criss & Keean Johnson Interview: Midway". Screen Rant. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Wiseman, Andreas (August 10, 2018). "Roland Emmerich's 'Midway' Enlists Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Tadanobu Asano, Keean Johnson, Ahead Of Fall Shoot". Deadline. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
- ^ Debruge, Peter (August 15, 2020). "'Emperor' Review: A Runaway Slave Joins the Raid on Harpers Ferry in Forgotten Tale of Black Heroism". Variety.
- ^ Pape, Stefan (August 18, 2020). "Exclusive: Experienced producer Mark Amin on directorial debut Emperor and upcoming Zorro reboot". HeyUGuys. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
- ^ "Cut Throat City - St. Louis Times". Riverfront Times. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
- ^ "The Ultimate Playlist of Noise (2021) – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Spooksville". Hubworld. Archived from the original on November 19, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2020.