Wil Johnson
Encyclopedia
Wilbert "Wil" Johnson is an English actor, who has had notable television roles in Waking the Dead
and Babyfather
, and on stage in Othello
.
, London. His mother was a dressmaker and his father a carpenter. Johnson had no interest in acting while he was at drama school; he had a speech impediment and had regular panic attacks. After he filled in a role for an absent actor, he changed his mind.
and London's Burning
, before playing detective Stevie Johnson in the London Weekend Television
series Anna Lee
. From 1994 to 1995 he played the supporting role of Detective Constable Skelton in Cracker
. Between roles, Johnson worked for a local undertakers, driving the hearse and acting as a pallbearer. At one funeral, a mourner recognised him from Cracker and asked for his autograph.
In 2000, he appeared in the BBC television pilot Waking the Dead, as Detective Sergeant Spencer Jordan, a member of a specialised police unit tasked with investigating "cold cases". Waking the Dead
returned for a complete series in 2001, and Johnson has been a main cast member since. From 2000 to 2002, he appeared as Steve Robinson in Paul Abbott
's popular drama series Clocking Off
. From 2001 to 2002, he appeared as a main cast member in two series of the BBC's Babyfather
.
In 2004, Johnson played the title character in the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company's
Othello
.
He also played Marcus Kirby in the BBC Drama Waterloo Road
. He departed in the second half of Series.
In 2011 Johnson starred as gangster boss Big Mike in Anuvahood
in British television:
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
and Babyfather
Babyfather
Babyfather is a BBC Two television programme which aired in the UK in 2001 and 2002. The show has been described as a "black, male, UK version of Sex and the City". It ran for two series, and was based on a novel written by Patrick Augustus. The writers of the screenplay include Avril E...
, and on stage in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
.
Early life
Wil Johnson was born in Muswell HillMuswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
, London. His mother was a dressmaker and his father a carpenter. Johnson had no interest in acting while he was at drama school; he had a speech impediment and had regular panic attacks. After he filled in a role for an absent actor, he changed his mind.
Career
Johnson's first professional acting role came in the play Four Seasons at the 1985 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. For the rest of the 1980s he made minor appearances in television series such as CasualtyCasualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
and London's Burning
London's Burning
London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...
, before playing detective Stevie Johnson in the London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
series Anna Lee
Anna Lee (TV series)
Anna Lee is a British television series produced by Brian Eastman and Carnival Films for London Weekend Television. Following a 1993 pilot, five two-hour programmes were produced in 1994, loosely based on the detective novels of Liza Cody. These were broadcast in the U.S. on the A&E cable network....
. From 1994 to 1995 he played the supporting role of Detective Constable Skelton in Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
. Between roles, Johnson worked for a local undertakers, driving the hearse and acting as a pallbearer. At one funeral, a mourner recognised him from Cracker and asked for his autograph.
In 2000, he appeared in the BBC television pilot Waking the Dead, as Detective Sergeant Spencer Jordan, a member of a specialised police unit tasked with investigating "cold cases". Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
returned for a complete series in 2001, and Johnson has been a main cast member since. From 2000 to 2002, he appeared as Steve Robinson in Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott is a BAFTA award-winning English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain today, following his work on many popular series, including Coronation Street, Cracker and Shameless,...
's popular drama series Clocking Off
Clocking Off
Clocking Off is a British television drama series which ran on the BBC One network for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott...
. From 2001 to 2002, he appeared as a main cast member in two series of the BBC's Babyfather
Babyfather
Babyfather is a BBC Two television programme which aired in the UK in 2001 and 2002. The show has been described as a "black, male, UK version of Sex and the City". It ran for two series, and was based on a novel written by Patrick Augustus. The writers of the screenplay include Avril E...
.
In 2004, Johnson played the title character in the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company's
Royal Lyceum Theatre
The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658 seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of UK£17,000 on behalf...
Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
.
He also played Marcus Kirby in the BBC Drama Waterloo Road
Waterloo Road (TV series)
Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
. He departed in the second half of Series.
In 2011 Johnson starred as gangster boss Big Mike in Anuvahood
Anuvahood
Anuvahood is an urban comedy film directed by Adam Deacon. Starring Adam Deacon, Paul Kaye, Wil Johnson, Ollie Barbieri, Femi Oyeniran, Jocelyn Jee Esien and Ashley Walters as the lead stars, Anuvahood was released on March 18, 2011...
Personal life
Johnson has seven children. He is an advocate of colour-blind castingColour-blind casting
Colour-blind casting, non-traditional casting or integrated casting is the practice of casting a role without considering the actor's ethnicity. It derives its name from the medical condition of colour blindness...
in British television:
"There are a lot more black and Asian actors who the nation knows by name, which is fantastic [...] [Colour-blind casting] happens regularly in theatre, but in mainstream television it could be implemented a lot more. I'm tentative to use the word 'stereotyping', because a lot of the black roles emerging on television I wouldn't categorise as stereotypical: my role in Waking the Dead certainly wasn't."