Samuel Johnson

Samuel Joseph Johnson (born 8 February 1978) is an Australian actor.

Born in 1978, Johnson was born and raised in Daylesford, Victoria.

Johnson's first film role was in the 1995 film Angel Baby where he played Check-Out Cashier.

Angel Baby was the tale of two people suffering from schizophrenia who meet at therapy and fall in love.

The film was a huge success, sweeping the board at the 1995 AFI Awards.

He is best known for his roles as Evan Wylde in the television series The Secret Life of Us for which he won the AFI award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Telefeature in 2001, Leon Broznic in Rush, Toby Kirby in After the Deluge and as Molly Meldrum in the miniseries Molly for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama and won the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality on Television of 2017.

His break, however, came in 2001 when he was chosen for the role of the Scruffy, womanising writer Evan Wylde in Channel 10's drama series The Secret Life of Us.

Evan was a main character, also narrating the majority of the show (apart from instances narrated by Deborah Mailman's character Kelly Lewis).

This made Johnson a household name and earned him an AFI Award in 2001 for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Drama Series.

The Secret Life of Us enjoyed consistent success up until the third series, when many major characters left, resulting in a drop in ratings.

Johnson is also well known for his role in the 2002 Mick Molloy film Crackerjack.

In 2003, during the height of Johnson's Secret Life career, he received rave reviews for his performance in the mini-series After the Deluge.

It follows the story of the Kirby family; their father Cliff is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, and relives his disturbing memories of the war and his first love, as a part of his experiences of the present.

His three estranged sons Alex (David Wenham), Marty (Hugo Weaving) and Toby (Johnson) are thrown together to care for their father whilst struggling with their own lives and relationships and attempting to come to terms with their father's mental state.

Apart from Johnson's appearances on many Australian shows to promote his work, he has also featured on Thank God You're Here and The Panel as well as the ABC documentary The Sum of Sam; documenting his personal struggles and work with Open Family Australia, a youth outreach program co-founded by South Melbourne parish priest Fr Bob Maguire.

Johnson appeared in the police drama Rush in Melbourne, a drama revolving around Melbourne's Tactical Response team (based on Critical Incident Response-style teams).

He played the role of communications specialist Leon Broznic; alongside Callan Mulvey and Catherine McClements who played Evan's girlfriend Carmen in The Secret Life of Us.

Playing Molloy's slacker pothead flatmate Dave Jackson, the film enjoyed relative success winning a host of awards including Outstanding Comic Screenplay and Outstanding Film Comedy at the Australian Comedy Awards in 2003.

Johnson's character Evan (one of the last three original major characters alongside Kelly Lewis and Simon Trader) left early in the fourth series in 2004 and the show was axed soon afterwards.

After leaving The Secret Life of Us in 2004, Johnson went on to star in the dark, black comedy The Illustrated Family Doctor as Gary Kelp, a man condensing The Illustrated Family Doctor medical guide.

Unfulfilled in every way, Gary starts to develop the physical symptoms of the ills he is transcribing and his life begins to really fall apart.

The film divided viewers and critics, with the film resulting in a love-it-or-hate-it divide and was nominated for a handful of awards including Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2005 AFI Awards.

Johnson provided a voice-over for Vodafone, also appearing in their advertisements.

Early in his career, Johnson also lent his voice to commercials for Hungry Jack's, as well as a number of other brands.

In 2005/06, Johnson joined Nova 100, hosting the 9am – 12pm slot.

He was popular in the role but resigned mid-2006, several months after his girlfriend Lainie Woodlands died.

In July 2007, Johnson appeared on stage playing a young Weary Dunlop in the playWeary: The Story of Sir Edward Dunlop.

Weary follows the ageing veteran after retirement, when he returns to the diaries of his time in a World War II POW camp.

The action switches between the young Weary and his older, wiser self.

Johnson's other stage credits include: Love Letters, Hotel Sorrento, The Present, The Snake Pit, Mad Woman’s Fountain, Life During War Time and The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

In 2010, he made a cameo appearance as an old friend of Sarah's in the final episode of Wilfred.

Since 2012, Johnson has led fundraising efforts for the charity Love Your Sister, which he co-founded with his sister Connie Johnson.

Johnson was born in Daylesford, Victoria and educated at Wesley College, Melbourne.

At the age of 14, he performed in his first school play, cast in a role as the mad scientist in The Pink Panther Strikes Again.

On opening night he was spotted by Rhonda Schepisi, former wife of director Fred Schepisi.

Taking the reins, she helped Johnson acquire an Equity Card and find auditions.

"So I figuratively got a phone call on the first night I'd ever been in a play. She marched me to the union and demanded that they give me a card, then she drove me to an agent and demanded they take me on. It was somewhat fortuitous and I happened to get the first 20 or so jobs I went for. This career was certainly not designed by me."

Johnson's first foray into television started with small roles in various shows including the role of Prince Jobah in The New Adventures of Ocean Girl; as Sally Fletcher's first boyfriend, Gus Bishop, in Home and Away; and in other bit parts including Blue Heelers, Halifax f.p., Stingers and Something in the Air.

In 2016, Johnson starred as Molly Meldrum in the miniseries Molly.

In 2019, he competed and won the 16th season of Network 10's Dancing with the Stars, with professional partner Jorja Freeman, and raised $50,000 in prize money for his charity Love Your Sister.