'Popular's' Bryce Johnson Tackles Hollywood

Actor Talks About High School, Teen Flicks And His Big Break

The Kennedy Clan
First there were the Montagues and the Capulets. Then the Hatfields and the McCoys. But these feuding clans had nothing on the kids of WB's sleeper hit "Popular."

A Capulet wouldn't last 20 seconds in the halls of the show's Kennedy High School. Not with the likes of super-cheerleader Brooke McQueen (actress Leslie Bibb) and her ruthless friends ruling the campus.

Introduced in 1999, "Popular" (starring Bibb and Carly Pope) chronicles the teenage lives of the "popular" and "unpopular" students of Santa Monica's fictitious Kennedy High. Last season, Brooke faced off against intellectual Sam (Pope) and her clique, which was vying for its own piece of popularity and acceptance. The battle heated up when Brooke's single dad and Sam's widowed mom fell in love, making the enemies stepsisters.

But even if you wouldn't be caught dead thinking about your high school days, "Popular" is much more than just a teen show. It also manages to tackle some pretty taboo issues like child abuse, homosexuality and parental breakups. But let's not forget the main reason why viewers are tuning in to the show: those gorgeous babes and super-hunky guys. And (gasp) they can act, too.

As "Popular" moves to a new time slot on Friday nights this season, I called on a member of Kennedy High's in-crowd. The quarterback-turned-school-theater-leading man, Josh Ford, played by actor Bryce Johnson talks about the parallels between the show and his own high-school experience.

The Bryce Is Right
They were a special breed. You know the type: good-looking, buff and athletic. They wore the letterman's jackets with all those shiny pins. They were a species called Jocks.

Johnson not only plays a football star on "Popular," he's the real deal. Well, sort of. A natural athlete, Johnson also sports movie-star good looks. But he, like his character, is a guy who isn't afraid to be himself.

"Josh is the popular guy. But he's a good guy. He doesn't do anybody too much harm," Johnson says of his character. "I love him, man. He's crazy."

Johnson is quick to add that Josh is more than a stereotypical jock.

"He's about five-dimensional. He always gets a lot of serious stuff to deal with, and I really have a fun time trying to work with that stuff," Johnson tells me.

Josh shed his macho image last year when he went out for the school play. His decision led to trouble with his girlfriend (cheerleader Brooke), his football coach and his father.

But the fans of "Popular" gave him a standing O.

The storyline came to a head when Josh was given an ultimatum by his father: Either drop out of the lead role in the play and concentrate on sports, or risk losing the respect of his father.

"I had a lot of people comment on the episode with my father," Johnson tells me. The response was so positive that Josh's acting days might not be over. "(Josh) might be doing another play this new year, too."

The Whole Nine Yards
"I had fun in high school," Johnson tells me of his own experience.

Johnson excelled in sports and was the captain of his golf and soccer teams. But this gregarious guy didn't stop there.

"I was class president and homecoming king -- the whole nine yards, you know. It was good," he says.

But Johnson says that he and his character are similar in another way, too.

"I never treated anybody with disrespect. That's another thing with Josh, too, is you'll never see him disrespecting people," Johnson says.

And where do he and his character differ? Well, Johnson never quite made it to the high-school theater department.

"I never did a play in high school. I always kind of thought about it," the actor says.

Johnson says that his reason for not taking the stage in high school was simple.

"Sports. It would interfere with soccer season," he says, laughing.

But Johnson did decide to become an actor after seeing his older brother appear in a high school play.

"It really blew me away," he recalls.

Hollywood High
"You know that (in the producer's eyes), they can't see anybody else playing Josh Ford. That's funny to me," Johnson says of his hot gig. "You just bring so much of yourself and put it into a role. You put your brand on it."

While Johnson may be scoring points in Hollywood now, it wasn't an easy jaunt down the field. After all, America's Heartland is a long way from Tinseltown.

"I was born in Reno. I lived in Denver. My parents divorced when I was about 5, and my mom moved to Denver," Johnson tells me. "When I graduated from high school in Denver, I moved to Iowa for two years."

His older brother's performance while in high school convinced Johnson that Hollywood was his destiny, but his parents weren't so sure at first.

"In my senior year, I decided to move to L.A. and become a movie star. I had all this passion. I was just trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and I knew I wanted to do something fun," he says.

So Johnson did what any aspiring actor would do: He got ready to join the Navy.

Johnson told his parents that if he couldn't become an actor, he would join the military instead. He even shaved his head to prove that he was serious.

His parents flipped out.

He said to them: "Fine, I'll move to Hollywood, then."

Apparently, Hollywood sounded a lot better to his parents than the Navy did, and they supported his move.

When Johnson finally got to Los Angeles, he says that he didn't know the first thing about the business of show business.

After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Johnson took a series of odd jobs to support his burgeoning acting career.

"I bused table, sold ATT, sold computer products, toner ribbons," the 24-year-old remembers.

The worst job that Johnson took had to do with vinyl windows.

"It was commissions only and you had to sell, like, $10,000 worth of vinyl windows to these old people -- like ripping their retirement money right underneath them. It was ridiculous. It was horrifying," Johnson tells me.

Luckily, Johnson's career in vinyl window sales was short-lived.

He was thrilled when he booked a guest role on the ultra-sexy MTV series "Undressed."

"They've got hot people on there," he says of the ever-revolving youth-oriented cast.

"Undressed" also proved to be an excellent training ground.

"They do, like, three different plot lines at one time. They get three different directors and they shoot it guerrilla style," Johnson says.

At about the same time, Johnson was tapped to star in the pilot of "Saving Graces." Although the show didn't make it onto the air, it did give Johnson valuable exposure and led to his current role on "Popular."

Popularity Contest
"It's the coolest," Johnson says about the success of the show.

"This is our second season. I remember when I first saw the show; I knew it was going to be something good. I think in every show, the quality is always there," he says.

And why does he think the show is so, um, popular?

"It's a combination of things," Johnson says. "It's the cast. It's the writing for sure. Table readings are a blast. We laugh so hard at every table reading. If you watch the show, you'll be lucky if you catch about 5 percent of all the jokes."

About his co-stars, he says: "They're great. That's the coolest thing about the cast and crew is that they're super cool."

Playing The Field
"I'm looking for film. I'm kind of done with my TV career," he says, tongue in cheek. "No, I'm not done with TV."

But Johnson says that he's not looking to buy into the current teen-movie craze.

"God, I hope not. It would have to be like a Cameron Crowe-style teen movie, where I'm playing a teen in a serious story. I'm looking for anything with substance," Johnson tells me.

"Most of it's crap. It's crap, dude. I think the teen movies out there are crap and I'm upset at, like, the good actors that do it."

But teen movie or not, Johnson's certainly winning on the small screen. He also scores big with his positive attitude.

"I'm definitely happy. My rent's getting paid. I've got good friends and good family," he says.

The Big Scoop