Jake Johnson

Jake Johnson
Jake Johnson by Gage Skidmore.jpg
Johnson in 2018
Born
Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger

(1978-05-28) May 28, 1978 (age 44)
Alma mater
Occupation
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • film producer
  • screenwriter
Years active2002–present
Spouse(s)
Erin Payne
(m. 2006)
Children2

Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger (born May 28, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, film producer and screenwriter best known for his role as Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom New Girl (2011–2018), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 2018, and as Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man in the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), a role he will reprise in its sequel (2023). He also starred in Let's Be Cops (2014), and appeared in Paper Heart (2009), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), 21 Jump Street (2012), Drinking Buddies (2013), Jurassic World (2015), The Mummy (2017), and Tag (2018). He co-starred as Greyson "Grey" McConnell in the ABC drama series Stumptown (2019–2020).

Early life

Johnson was born in Evanston, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, the son of 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. Jake's father is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family, while his mother's ancestry is English, Irish, and Polish Catholic. 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 now they are close.

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.

Personal life

Johnson married artist Erin Payne in 2006 and has twin daughters Elizabeth and Olivia, born in 2014. Johnson and Payne have been together since 2003.

Filmography

Key
Not yet released Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Bunny Whipped Basketball Player
2008 Redbelt Guayabera Shirt Man
2009 Paper Heart Nicholas Jasenovec
2010 Get Him to the Greek Jazz Man
Ceremony Teddy
Spilt Milk Todd
2011 No Strings Attached Eli
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas Jesus Christ
2012 Safety Not Guaranteed Jeff Schwensen
21 Jump Street Principal Dadier
2013 Drinking Buddies Luke Darlingson
The Pretty One Basel
Coffee Town Will's Roommate
2014 The Lego Movie Barry Voice role
Neighbors Sebastian Cremmington
Let's Be Cops Ryan J. O'Malley
2015 Digging for Fire Tim Also co-writer and producer
Jurassic World Lowery Cruthers
2016 Joshy Reggie
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates Ronnie
Lego Jurassic World: The Indominus Escape Lowery Cruthers Voice role, short film series, direct-to-video
2017 Win It All Eddie Garrett Also co-writer and producer
Smurfs: The Lost Village Grouchy Smurf Voice role
Flower Raymond Vandross Uncredited cameo
Becoming Bond Peregrine Carruthers Documentary
The Mummy Chris Vail
2018 Tag Randy "Chilli" Cilliano
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man Voice role
2021 Ride the Eagle Leif Also co-writer and producer
2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Not yet released Peter B. Parker / Spider-Man Voice role; in production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Derek and Simon: The Show Jake 6 episodes
Curb Your Enthusiasm Man on Cell Phone Episode: "The N Word"
The Unit Martin Episode: "MPs"
2009 Lie to Me Howard Crease Episode: "Love Always"
2010 FlashForward Powell Episode: "Countdown"
2011–2018 New Girl Nick Miller Main cast, 7 seasons
Nominated – Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series (2013)
Nominated – TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy (2013)
Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Best Actor Comedy (2012, 2013)
Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy (2013)
2011 Allen Gregory Joel Zadak (voice) 6 episodes
2012 NTSF:SD:SUV:: Jorgen Episode: "The Real Bicycle Thief"
2013 Ghost Ghirls Eddie Hanson Episode: "Home Is Where The Haunt Is"
2013; 2015 High School USA! Mr. Structor (voice) Main role
2013–2019 Drunk History Various 3 episodes
2015 Comedy Bang! Bang! Himself Episode: "Jake Johnson Wears a Light Blue Button-Up Shirt and Brown Shoes"
No Activity Cutler Episode: "The American"
2015–2017 BoJack Horseman Oxnard (voice) 3 episodes
2016 We Bare Bears Dave (voice) Episode: "The Island"
2016–2017 Idiotsitter 2 episodes
2016–2019 Easy Drew 2 episodes
2017 Comrade Detective Stan (voice) Recurring role; 5 episodes
2017–2019 No Activity DEA Agent John Haldeman 3 episodes
2019–2020 Stumptown Grey McConnell Main cast
2020 Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet Doc Michael Episode: "A Dark Quiet Death"
Hoops Ben Hopkins (voice) Lead role
2022 Minx Doug Main cast
Roar Greg Episode: "The Woman Who Found Bite Marks on Her Skin"
Lost Ollie Not yet released Daddy Main cast

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2015 Lego Jurassic World Lowery Cruthers Voice
Lego Dimensions Voice

Playwright

Year Title Role Publisher
2002 Cousins Writer Ensemble Studio Theater

This page was last updated at 2022-08-23 03:32 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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