Breaking the ice with Brooke Lena Johnson
WRITER: Chris Saunders
Brooke Lena Johnson’s journey to Hollywood is anything but predictable. Raised in Long Beach, California, by two educator parents, she spent her formative years not on film sets, but gliding across ice rinks. For 17 years, she was a competitive figure skater, performing across the globe with Disney on Ice. But while skating gave her a taste of storytelling through movement, it was the allure of acting – the ability to step into entirely different lives – that ultimately captivated her. Trading in the ice for the screen, she dove headfirst into the unpredictable world of Hollywood.
The transition wasn’t seamless. Starting as a teenager, Johnson navigated the industry’s competitive landscape with perseverance, taking on smaller roles and working her way up. She wasn’t handed overnight success, and spent years refining her craft. However, she was afforded the luxury of sharing the screen with stars like Mena Suvari and Bill Irwin at an early age. Mentally, acting required her to tap into a raw emotional depth that couldn’t be choreographed. But instead of being intimidated, she embraced the challenge, proving that resilience and reinvention are at the core of her artistry.
Now, with her most prominent role to date as Beatrice Worth in Prime Video’s Cruel Intentions – a bold reimagining of the 1999 cult classic – Johnson is stepping firmly into the spotlight. The series places her in the high-stakes world of power and manipulation, a setting where her ability to bring complexity to a character truly shines. Meanwhile, she’s also appeared in The Strangers: Chapter 1 (a reboot of the 2008 horror hit) and is set to reprise her role in subsequent films, further cementing her place in Hollywood’s rising class of talent.
Chris Saunders: We’ll get into your acting career, but first-off, I read that prior to all of this you were an ice skater – is that true?
Brooke Lena Johnson: Yeah, absolutely! I grew up as an ice skater, so I was an athlete for about 17 years. Acting was always more of an enjoyment outside of skating. Skating was where I had to be perfect all the time, while acting became the place where I could just mess around, be with people, and enjoy putting on a different mask.
CS: And what did that transition from skating to acting look like?
BLJ: Being so close to LA, my mum suggested, “Since we’re nearby, why don’t you try doing commercials or something?” I signed with a commercial agent, and they also had a theatrical department. They thought I’d be really great for theatrical work too, so I started dabbling in that. At the same time, I was still competing in nationals and doing various skating competitions, but during my downtime, I would go to these auditions.
I did Disney on Ice and realised that was my big cap on skating. I got the job at 17 and a half, and by 18, I had moved to South America for a year. This is why my dad thinks I ran away with the circus – he thought it was crazy. But for me, it was a good way to retire from skating. Around that time, I realised that I really wanted to pursue acting full-time.
CS: When would you say was the first moment you felt like you had your foot in the door of the film industry?
BLJ: It was after I had switched from a children’s agency. I started around 12 or 13, and moved to my current agents when I was 15. I’ve been with them for over ten years now. About a year after switching, I booked a series. It didn’t do very well, but it was one of the first self-tapes I ever did. This was before self-taping became standard. The role was to play Satan as a young girl dressed as a doll. It was very eerie, with a cigarette-smoking, doll-like appearance. I did the audition on my dad’s Tiki Bar at the back of our house. I didn’t even have proper lighting or a backdrop, but somehow, I booked the role. They flew me out to South Carolina, and I got to work with Mena Suvari and Bill Irwin, which was really cool.
CS: You come from a performance background, but did you feel even more pressure the first few times you stepped on a film set?
BLJ: Totally. I think anyone who says otherwise is lying. When you’re new, you’re walking into a world where everyone else knows what they’re doing, and you’re learning on the job while trying to fake your way through. If you’re lucky, you get people who guide you, but that doesn’t always happen. The biggest shift for me was coming from skating, where perfectionism is everything. You’re trying to execute a flawless program. Acting, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. You have to let go and be okay with making mistakes. Theatre helped me transition because it teaches you to roll with the punches… the show must go on whether you mess up or not. I had to unlearn that perfectionist mindset and embrace the chaos.
Photographer Raphael Molina
Stylist Branden Ruiz
Make-up Artist Fabiola
Hair Stylist Sophie Porter