We recently connected with Bobbi Johnson and have shared our conversation below.
Bobbi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
I was raised by a Baptist pastor and reverend so I was required to spend most of my time at church. At anytime growing up in my childhood home or in the car or at the grocery store or generally anywhere she was, my mom could be heard calling God by His full name at the top of her lungs. Inside, outside, sun, rain, sleet, hail, in a closet eyes closed, on the highway eyes open, before every major life event (her life, my life, your life) my mom is going to pray and it’s going to be with fervor. What my father lacks in prayer he made up for in church service volume. We had more church services and programs a year than all the churches in our area combined. Early morning, mid-morning, and evening services every Sunday, Bible study Wednesdays, fish fry Fridays, winter, spring, and fall revival, vacation Bible school, pastor’s anniversary, church’s anniversary, usher’s anniversary. We had ten choirs and fifteen clubs and each one had their own separate anniversary service. At any given moment, New Mount Nebo Baptist Church is open and you can hear my mother praying for the parking lot. In short, my parents love Jesus.
What my parents love most after Jesus and me, is film and tv. Though I was not allowed to go to a lot of sleep overs or parties, I could watch True Blood, Big Love, Hustle and Flow, or the Prestige in the living room with my folks at way too early of an age. They would cover my eyes during the sexy parts and everything was good. We went to the movie theater at least once a week and every Tuesday my mom would go to Walmart and buy a movie she had never seen before and one that she loved. My parents are the reason I am an actress, firstly because the baptist church is a form of theater in itself but second and mostly because they are the two biggest movie nerds I’ve met in my life. After we’d seen something we really liked (or really didn’t) we could sit around the table and talk for hours about plot and character development. My parents taught me how to dissect a story without realizing it. Thinking about them discussing a show at the dinner table makes me excited to play a character they’ll love (or hate). My mom is a leading example in vocal projection and thanks to my father I can be on set for hours and not feel fatigued. My parents taught me how to love something so much you want to give your all to it, for that I’m the most grateful.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’m an actress and writer from Bowie, Maryland. I found my love for the stage through slam poetry my freshman year of high school, then I did my first musical junior year and never looked back. I told my parents I wanted to be a nurse because I was afraid to say I wanted to be an artist and they looked at me like I was crazy, said I’d make a terrible nurse unless I played one on TV. They were probably right.
I studied acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and graduated in the class of 2020. Recently in film, I’ve starred in two short films: Transplant and On a Beautiful Wonderful Day. Both of which have been selected by multiple international film festivals. I was also blessed to play Cheryl in Lydia Diamond’s Stick Fly at the The Repertory Theater of St. Louis, which was named in St. Louis Mag’s 2022 A-List Editor’s Choice Awards for a masterclass performance of which I am the most proud.
I’ve been given the opportunity this year to be a part of so many POC centered stories. My mission is to represent Black women on screen truthfully and fearlessly, with the utmost love and care.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Getting to do what I love for a living is a blessing. The ability to create is a reward within itself. I’m an adult who gets paid to play pretend as a career, it’s nuts. It’s wonderful. I believe art is a form of loving and honoring God and the god in yourself. It’s a way to love others and the god in them. It’s the collaboration, I think that is my favorite part. Art reminds me that I need others to achieve my visions and goals and they need me. We are all so wonderfully small and we need each other and our individual gifts to make things beautiful. It’s humbling. It’s important, especially now, to remember how much we need each other and art/creation is always there to remind us.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Casting About – is site run by Actor’s Access that allows you to see projects that are currently in preproduction, sometimes before they are about to go into the casting process or during. I had no idea that you could reach out to producers and casting agents on my own. It’s a very helpful resource if you don’t have reps yet or if you’d like to ask your reps to reach out to a specific new project that excites you.
IMDB Pro – Now, I could’ve just been late to the party, but I wish someone told me sooner that I could use IMDB Pro as a way to find and contact reps. A lot of agents and managers have profiles on the site, some of which share their emails. It shows you who they are repping and what those actors have been cast in. It’s a great research tool. It can help give a little insight on whether an agent or manager would be a good fit for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: bobbidjohnson.com
- Instagram: bobbi.shmurdaa