Jake Johnson

Early life

Johnson was born on May 28, 1978, in Evanston, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, to Ken Weinberger, who owned a car dealership, and Eve Johnson, an artist who made stained glass windows. He was named after his maternal uncle, Mark Johnson, who died at the age of 26 in a motorcycle accident in 1977, a year before Jake was born. Johnson attended New Trier High School in Winnetka. His parents divorced when he was two, and he and his older siblings, brother Dan and sister Rachel, were raised by his single mother. Johnson then took his mother's last name during high school. He has stated that when he was 17, his father resurfaced and they became close. His father Ken died in 2021.

Career

Johnson grew up a fan of the Second City improv troupe. Raised in Wilmette, he graduated from New Trier High School in Winnetka and started his post-secondary education at the University of Iowa. While in Iowa City, he wrote a play, which wound up earning him admission to the Dramatic Writing Department at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, followed by the 2002 John Golden Playwriting Prize and the Sloan Fellowship for Screenwriting. The New York City off-Broadway group The Ensemble Studio Theater produced his play Cousins.

While in New York, Johnson started a sketch comedy troupe The Midwesterners, modeling their material and style after HBO's sketch comedy Mr. Show with Bob and David. After moving to Los Angeles, Johnson supported himself as a waiter and a production assistant, also scoring a series of bit feature and guest TV roles. In 2007, he landed a more regular gig with the TBS mini-show Derek and Simon: The Show, produced by Bob Odenkirk.

In 2009, he appeared in the mockumentary Paper Heart. In 2010, Johnson was cast in a small role in the Russell Brand comedy, Get Him to the Greek. He played Uma Thurman's character's brother in the romantic comedy Ceremony, and as a buddy of Ashton Kutcher's character in No Strings Attached. In 2011, he played Jesus in A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas. In 2012, he appeared in the film version of 21 Jump Street, which starred Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Johnson made an appearance at the 2012 Sundance Festival as one of the leads in Safety Not Guaranteed.

From 2011 to 2018, Johnson starred as Nick Miller alongside Zooey Deschanel on New Girl. In 2013, he appeared in the music video for "Rouse Yourself", a song by indie soul band JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound alongside his Safety Not Guaranteed co-star Aubrey Plaza. He also starred (as a fictional version of himself) in a series of Dodge Dart commercials with Craig Robinson. In 2015, he played park informatician Lowery Cruthers in Jurassic World. In 2017, Johnson starred as Eddie Garrett in the Netflix comedy film Win It All.

The web series Drunk History was inspired by a 2007 conversation that Johnson had with series creator Derek Waters. Johnson, while drunk, was trying to describe the story of Otis Redding's death to Waters, and Waters was inspired to build a series around history narrated by drunk people. Johnson later appeared in the first episode of the web series as Aaron Burr. After it was adapted for television under the same title on Comedy Central, he appeared in the eighth episode as William B. Travis, and the ninth episode of season three as Boris Spassky.

In 2018, Johnson appeared in the comedy film Tag as Randy Cilliano. In the same year, it was announced that Johnson was cast in the lead role of Ben Hopkins in the Netflix adult animation series Hoops. Also that year, Johnson provided the voice of Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

In 2019, Johnson was cast in the lead role of Grey McConnell in the ABC drama series Stumptown; he took over the role from Mark Webber, who played the character in the original pilot episode.

In 2023, Johnson started an advice podcast entitled We're Here to Help with co-host Gareth Reynolds. The same year, he made his directorial debut with Self Reliance.

Personal life

Johnson married Erin Payne, an artist, in 2006. They have twin daughters, Elizabeth and Olivia, born in 2014.

Johnson is a fan of several Chicago sports teams, including the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Music videos

Playwright

References

References

1. (July 17, 2023). "Hollywood Offered Jake Johnson a Path to Mega-Stardom, He Chose a Regular Life".
2. "Jake Johnson".
3. (November 15, 2011). "Rising Star: 'New Girl's' Jake M. Johnson". Access Hollywood.
4. (October 31, 2011). "New Girl: 10 Things About Jake". [[Fox Broadcasting Company.
5. (March 9, 2013). "Jake Johnson on His SXSW Comedy 'Drinking Buddies,' 'New Girl' Success". The Daily Beast.
6. "Q&A with Jake Johnson {{!}} Anthem Magazine".
7. "Jake M. Johnson".
8. "Watch Aubrey Plaza and Jake Johnson in JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound's 'Rouse Yourself' video - EXCLUSIVE". EW.com.
9. Woerner, Meredith. (June 11, 2015). "Who wears a 'Jurassic Park' T-shirt to 'Jurassic World?' Jake Johnson does.".
10. Marnell, Blair. (May 9, 2015). "Jurassic World Cast{{ndash}}A Look at the Characters".
11. Koazk, Liz. (August 20, 2015). "Jake Johnson Improvised a Whole Dang Movie".
12. (July 8, 2013). ""Drunk History" Creator Derek Waters & Director Jeremy Konner Interview". Complex.
13. Weintraub, Steve. (October 3, 2018). "Jake Johnson Talks 'Tag' and Shares Some Great Tom Cruise Stories".
14. (October 3, 2018). "Netflix Orders 'Hoops' Adult Animated Series Starring Jake Johnson From Ben Hoffman, Phil Lord, Chris Miller & 20th TV".
15. Andreeva, Nellie. (May 29, 2019). "Jake Johnson To Co-Star On New ABC Drama Series 'Stumptown' In Recasting". Deadline Hollywood.
16. Delkic, Melina. (October 13, 2013). "A Comedy Advice Podcast Asks Listeners to 'Believe in the Bit'". The New York Times.
17. Gajewski, Ryan. (June 29, 2023). "Jake Johnson's Directorial Debut 'Self Reliance' Lands at Hulu".
18. Skipper, Clay. (June 14, 2018). "New Girl's Jake Johnson Is Hollywood's Humblest (and Handsomest) Everyman".
19. Radloff, Jessica. (August 22, 2013). "Jake Johnson's thoughts on married life, drinking too much, and his New Girl co-stars".
20. "Top 10: Celebrity Bears fans". ChicagoBears.com.
21. (June 30, 2021). "Famous Chicago Bears Fans". NBCChicago.com.
22. McCormick, Luke. (September 29, 2015). "'New Girl's Jake Johnson Loves the Cubs, Hates Singing at Wrigley". RollingStones.com.
23. (January 11, 2023). "SXSW 2023 Lineup Includes 'Dungeons & Dragons' Opening Night World Premiere; 'Evil Dead Rise', Eva Longoria's 'Flamin' Hot', A24's 'Problemista' & More".
24. Grobar, Matt. (November 4, 2024). "Pickleball Comedy 'The Dink' Adds Chloe Fineman, Patton Oswalt & Five Others".
25. Guide, T. V.. "Journal Standard".
26. (October 3, 2018). "Jake Johnson to Play 'Foul-Mouthed' High School Basketball Coach in Netflix Adult Animated Comedy 'Hoops'".
27. (2015). "[[Lego Dimensions]]". [[Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment]].
28. "Jake Johnson (8 Character Images)".