Johnny was born in Shanghai, China, and grew up in Queens, NY. He attended Stuyvesant High School in downtown NYC and applied to colleges thinking he was going to pursue a career in finance. He found his passion for acting his senior year at Stuyvesant after being accepted to the School of Management at Binghamton University. Despite his mother's best efforts, Johnny decided to start at Binghamton as a Theatre major. Johnny knew nothing of auditioning and never even read a play but he was convinced to audition for a show just two days into college. He wound up being the only freshman cast in the Mainstage production that semester. From there, he grew rapidly and the department quickly gave him more responsibilities in playing significant roles, and he gained much from his professors in both classes and productions. His senior year, Johnny auditioned for the top three MFA programs in the country - The Yale School of Drama, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and UC San Diego to continue his training. He was accepted into all three programs with full scholarships from both NYU and UCSD. He decided to have a change of scenery and head out to the West Coast. Three years later, with countless hours of training, a Master's degree, and a lower tolerance for below-50 degree weather conditions, Johnny finds himself more enthusiastic than ever about the possibilities. |
