Michael Johnston (actor)

Michael Johnston
Johnston in 2016
Born (1996-02-22) February 22, 1996
Rutherfordton, North Carolina, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active2012–present
Notable workObsession
Websitemichaeljvo.com

Michael Johnston (born February 22, 1996) is an American actor. He appeared as supporting character Corey Bryant in the MTV series Teen Wolf, and had starring roles in the independent film Slash (2016) and as Baron "Bear" Bailey in the horror film Obsession (2025). He is also a voice actor for animation and video games, including as the English voice of Mikleo in Tales of Zestiria and its anime adaptation.

Early and personal life

Johnston was born on February 22, 1996.[1] He grew up in Ruth, North Carolina.[2][3] After graduating from high school early, he moved with his father to Chicago, where he studied acting at The Second City.[4][5] After six months there, he moved to Los Angeles.[5] Johnston is gay.[2][3]

Career

After unlocking a behind-the-scenes featurette in the video game Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance that showed voice actors recording character vocalizations, Johnston became interested in voice acting. Inspired by the video, he began creating two-dimensional point-and-click and Flash games, for which he performed his own voiceovers.[6]: 16:45 [2] 

When he was 12 years old, he started auditioning for voice-over roles in commercials, animation, unpaid fan dubs, and student animation projects from a recording studio he had set up in his bedroom.[5][7] At age sixteen, he booked his first paid role, in a Little Caesars commercial.[2] [6]: 7:50  He also provided narration for the Wubble Bubble Ball infomercials in 2014[8].

Voice acting

Johnston has voiced characters for video games, including Reed in Dust: An Elysian Tail,[9] Mikleo in Tales of Zestiria, and Ephemer in Kingdom Hearts III.[10] He also provided his voice for roles in TV shows such as Atsushi Minegishi in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea and the eponymous character, Conrad Zacharie "Zak" Storm, in Zak Storm (both for English dubs).[5][10] For films, he voiced the English dubbed versions of characters like Wasabi Kawamura in Ride Your Wave (2019), Shawn in The Academy of Magic (2020), and Hiiragi Yatsuse in My Oni Girl (2024).[11] Johnston also currently voices young Nathan Summers in the Marvel Studios Animation series X-Men '97 (2024).[12]

Television

Johnston in 2026

Johnston appeared in a small role in MTV's teen comedy-drama Awkward.[4] He then played Corey Bryant, a recurring character in the final two seasons of Teen Wolf, from 2015 to 2017.[10][13]

Film

In 2016, Johnston had the lead role in the comedy film Slash, where he played Neil, a 15-year-old high school student who writes slash fiction.[14][15] He also appeared in the indie supernatural horror film Bornless Ones (2017).[10][16][17] In 2021, he played Noah Halsey in action-adventure film Endangered Species.[18]

Johnston received attention in 2026 for his lead role as Baron "Bear" Bailey in the supernatural-horror film Obsession (2025), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.[19] Johnston's performance has been praised as a critique of the "nice guy".[20][21] Following his breakout role in Obsession, Johnston signed with The Gersh Agency for film, television, and brand partnerships.[22]

On July 27, 2026, Johnston was revealed to be in talks to join the cast of the untitled Mummy film.[23]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012 Bee Wars Buzzalot Voice
Totes Burgers Evan Short film
2016 Slash Neil Shafer
2017 Bornless Ones Zach
The Maestro Pietro Castelnuovo-Tedesco
2018 Crazy for the Boys Chad
2019 Ride Your Wave Wasabi Kawamura Voice; English dub [24]
[11]
2020 The Academy of Magic Shawn Voice [11]
2021 Endangered Species Noah Halsey [18]
2024 My Oni Girl Hiiragi Yatsuse Voice; English dub [11]
2025 Obsession Baron "Bear" Bailey

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012–2014 TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise Bubb / additional voices Voice; 3 episodes
2015 Tales of Zestiria: Dawn of the Shepherd Mikleo Voice; English dub
Awkward Senior Episode: "The Graduates"
Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea Atsushi Minegishi Voice; English dub
2015–2017 Teen Wolf Corey Bryant 25 episodes
2016 Tales of Zestiria the X Mikleo Voice; English dub (credited as Philip Lamont)
Pure Genius Luke Wallace Episode: "It's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Silk Surgery"
2016–2018 Zak Storm Conrad Zacharie "Zak" Storm Voice; English dub [11]
2017 Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh Keanu Voice; episode: "Tip's Deep Dish / Garbage Day"
2018 Supergirl Adam Episode: "Rather the Fallen Angel"
2020 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Shoichi Voice; English dub [11]
2022 S.W.A.T. Watson Episode: "Cry Foul"
2023 Akuma-kun Akuma II / Ichirō Umoregi Voice; English dub [25]
[11]
2024 Time Patrol Bon Thoth / additional voices [11]
2024–present X-Men '97 Young Nathan Summers Voice; 3 episodes [11]
2025–present Gil Next Door Wolly Pondbottom Voice [26]
2026 Nippon Sangoku: The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun Tonotsugu Taira Voice; English dub [11]
9-1-1 Sam Drayton Episode: "Where There's Smoke"

Video games

Year Title Voice role Notes Ref.
2012 Dust: An Elysian Tail Reed [9][11]
2015 Tales of Zestiria Mikleo English dub [10]
2017 Fire Emblem Heroes Lugh [11]
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Ephemer English dub [10]
[11]
2018 Last Year: The Nightmare Nick [10]
2019 Kingdom Hearts III Ephemer English dub [10]
[11]
The Blackout Club Male Player / Daxton [27]
Concrete Genie Zach [11]
2020 Marvel's Avengers Dante [11]
Terrain of Magical Expertise CrashR
2021 The Artful Escape Francis Vendetti [11]
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles Shoichi English dub [11]
2023 Paranormal Files: Silent Willow Peter [11]
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Danny [28]
2024 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Sweep the Board Shoichi English dub [11]
2026 God of War Sons of Sparta Theophilos [11]
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Peter [11]

Discography

  • Gravity (2024)

Awards and nominations

Award Year Work Category Result Ref.
Critics' Choice Super Awards 2026 Obsession Best Actor in a Horror Movie Nominated [29]
Best Villain in a Movie Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Johnston, Michael [@MichaelJVO] (February 22, 2017). "Apparently you can't get a drink when you're 21. Bar said it had to be 24 hours after my birthday. How lame!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021 – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chang, Kee (May 1, 2026). "Fatal Attraction". Anthem Magazine. Retrieved June 2, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Ennis, Dawn (June 1, 2026). "Meet Michael Johnston, the openly gay star of 'Obsession'". Out. Retrieved July 8, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Hinzmann, Dennis (May 11, 2015). "Hot List: Teen Wolf's Michael Johnston". Out. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Slash" (PDF) (Press release). The Film Collaborative. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Davis, Brandon (July 1, 2026). Obsession Success, X-Men '97 Role, and Big Decisions After Bear | Michael Johnston on TBDS #027 (Video). Retrieved July 6, 2026 – via YouTube.
  7. ↑ Oebel, Nicole (September 10, 2015). "Teen Wolf interview with Michael Johnston". myFanbase. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ https://x.com/mjohnstoupdates/status/2087017492547809415?s=46&t=5CvlIcY9pf1IQko-BouEeg
  9. 1 2 "Colton Haynes returns to Teen Wolf Season 5? Hot new guy cast to play Mason's new love interest". Venture Capital Post. May 14, 2015. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Michael Jonston, Actor (Zach)". Bornless Ones – Official Website for Bornless Ones. Archived from the original on July 19, 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Michael Johnston (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved April 24, 2025. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  12. ↑ Bryant, Jacob (June 30, 2026). "'X-Men '97' Season 1 Recap: What To Remember Before Season 2". TheWrap. Retrieved July 10, 2026.
  13. ↑ Love, Ryan (May 16, 2015). "Teen Wolf newcomer Michael Johnston teases gay romance in fifth series". Attitude. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  14. ↑ Kit, Borys (May 29, 2015). "Necessary Roughness actress nabs female lead in indie comedy Slash". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  15. ↑ Leydon, Joe (March 14, 2016). "SXSW Film Review: Slash". Variety. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  16. ↑ "Bornless Ones". The Film Catalogue. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  17. ↑ "Bornless Ones". High Octane Pictures. Archived from the original on August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  18. 1 2 Harvey, Dennis (May 28, 2021). "'Endangered Species' Review: Hyenas Threaten to Tear Apart Family Before They Can Do It Themselves". Variety. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  19. ↑ Jones, Tamera; Nemiroff, Perri (May 12, 2026). "'Obsession' Is the Ultimate Antidote to the "Nice Guy" Horror Trope". Collider. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  20. ↑ Romano, Evan (May 18, 2026). "'Obsession' Turns Male Loneliness Into the Ultimate Horror Story. Star Michael Johnston Has Thoughts". Men's Health. Retrieved June 8, 2026.
  21. ↑ Castillo, Monica (May 18, 2026). "Obsession's villain is the final boss of nice guys". AV Club. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  22. ↑ Couch, Aaron (June 11, 2026). "'Obsession' Star Michael Johnston Signs With Gersh (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
  23. ↑ Tangcay, Jazz (July 27, 2026). "'Obsession' Star Michael Johnston in Talks to Join 'The Mummy 4' With Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz". Variety. Retrieved July 27, 2026.
  24. ↑ Sherman, Jennifer (May 7, 2020). "GKIDS, Shout! Factory to Release Ride Your Wave Anime Film on Home Video". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 12, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  25. ↑ Michael Johnston [@MichaelJVO] (November 9, 2023). "I'm so excited to share that I voice Akuma Kun (English dub) and it just dropped on Netflix!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  26. ↑ GIL NEXT DOOR - Episode 1: I Like Mayors (Video). Pencilmation. December 12, 2025. Retrieved December 13, 2025 – via YouTube.
  27. ↑ Question LLC (July 30, 2019). The Blackout Club (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4) (1.0 ed.). Question LLC.
  28. ↑ McMullen, Chris (August 18, 2023). "All Voice Actors in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Game". The Escapist. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
  29. ↑ Davidson, Denton (August 6, 2026). "'Obsession,' 'Project Hail Mary,' and 'Widow's Bay' lead Critics Choice Super Awards". Gold Derby. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 6, 2026.
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