The incredible body of work of actress Lize Johnston

A force to be reckoned with, Lize Johnston

Sometimes I know I can go a bit over the top when I see a really solid CV or resumé. Looking at Lize Johnston’s list of work and training I almost didn’t believe how truly good it was. (By the way, Lize is pronounced like “fleecy”). This incredible woman has a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Harvard, (yes, that Harvard) in acting, and during that time also spent a three-month residency at the Moscow Art Theatre.

 

When in Moscow Lize played Nastasya in a stage adaptation of Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot, and Yelena in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Back in the States she played Lady MacBeth in MacBeth, Viola in Twelfth Night, Helen of Troy in Helen, Theresa Bedell in Boy Gets Girl and among many other things, Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Lize is certainly a classically trained actress, no doubt.

 

Lize lived in Sydney, Australia before coming to New York and she was in many short films there while getting her bachelor’s degree in computer science. What? Didn’t I tell you her resumé was interesting? She worked as a software developer for some time before she decided to make the switch to acting as a full time career. So, she’s obviously a talented actress because casting agents and producers are casting her in roles that pay, and she’s also a brainy young woman who can speak to computers. She will never starve for lack of skills and talent.

 

So, okay, Australia, New York, Moscow…that’s a lot of traveling. But wait, there’s more. She was raised in South Africa and got interested in acting when she was just a kid. Her mom was an actress when she was younger so apparently the theatre is in her blood. And so are movies, as far as that goes. She’s certainly been in countless independent short films and too many theatrical stage plays to count, but she has also been in several feature films. Toby Goes to Camp is one of the feature-length movies Lize has had a leading role in. It was filmed in the Santa Monica Mountains, a stone’s throw from Hollywood, and is about a young white Bengal tiger who goes to a kids’ summer camp. Lize plays one of two camp counselors and the movie is scheduled to be released in 2016.

 

When not shooting movies with white tigers, Lize also does commercials and her facility with accents and languages has enabled her to work as a language consultant and dialect coach for TV shows like Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, Castle and Life in Pieces. She is represented by Michael Henderson at Heartrock Management.