Keean Johnson

Keean Manny Johnson was born on October 25, 1996, near the Colorado Rockies. The son of a British father and an American-Chilean mother, he was largely homeschooled alongside his younger brother, Cade. His early career highlighted a diverse interest in dance, music, acting, and photography. Johnson’s professional acting journey began at age 11 with the play “Plainsong” at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. His talent was further recognized when casting director Nora Brennan discovered him for the Broadway musical “Billy Elliot,” where he performed over 300 shows before moving with the production to Chicago in 2010. A casting director later encouraged his family to relocate to Los Angeles to pursue television and film opportunities.

Johnson’s television debut was in 2013, starring as Adam Freeman in the action-horror-adventure series “Spooksville,” which aired until 2014. He further established his presence on the small screen with recurring roles as Colt Wheeler in the musical drama “Nashville” from 2014 to 2016, and as Tony in six episodes of “The Fosters” in 2015. His other notable TV appearances include Kyo ‘Ozo’ Ozonaka in the web series “Guidance” (2016) and Daniel in six episodes of the teen drama “Euphoria” (2019). More recently, in 2023, Johnson took on main roles as Luke Brueggeman in the series “Joe Pickett” and as Vernon Howell in the crime drama miniseries “Waco: The Aftermath” across five episodes.

His film career saw a significant breakthrough in 2019 with a leading role as Hugo in the James Cameron-produced and Robert Rodriguez-directed cyberpunk film “Alita: Battle Angel,” appearing alongside actors such as Christoph Waltz and Jennifer Connelly. That same year, he co-starred in the Lionsgate film “Midway” with Luke Evans and Woody Harrelson, and appeared in “Low Tide” as Alan, and “We Summon the Darkness” as Mark. Johnson’s filmography also includes “Cut Throat City” (2020) directed by RZA, “Emperor” (2020) playing Rufus Kelly, and the romantic comedy-drama “The Ultimate Playlist of Noise” (2021) as Marcus. He is set to appear in the upcoming film “Nice People.”