Thanks for visiting. My name is James J. Johnson (a.k.a. J. J.). My desire to entertain has always been there, but I don't think I realized it until the age of 9, when NBC's The Cosby Show first aired. Bill Cosby became such an inspiration to me, I told everyone I wanted to be a comedian. Over the years that desire evolved into wanting to be an actor, but I did not become serious about acting until 11th grade, after realizing I lacked any and all athletic ability.

I attended Warren County High School in Front Royal, VA. There I appeared in "Oklahoma" and "Lil Abner." One of the most memorable events, however, was landing the role of Scrooge, though I was the only African-American in the theatre program. I also attended the Governor's School for Humanities & Performing Arts at the University of Richmond, in 1992.

I received my B.F.A in Theatre from VA Commonwealth University in 1997. I was blessed to graduate magna cum laude. At VCU, I performed in mainstage productions of "King Lear," "The Misanthrope," "Sonny's Blues," "Julius Caesar," and "The Canterbury Tales." A love for Shakespeare and the classical theatre had been born!

After graduating, I had an incredible opportunity to be an assistant instructor at Legacy International Global Youth Village in Bedford, VA, teaching a workshop on Performing Arts for Social Change.

Since then I have been striving to make things happen in Washington, DC, and in New York City. I've been blessed to begin my career in DC, which is a thriving and growing theatre community, working with the African-Continuum Theatre, Shakespeare's Sistah Theatre Co., Ford's Theatre, The Shakespeare Project, Rep Stage, and the Washington Shakespeare Company, among others.

I am currently a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program of New York.