Jake Johnson Biography

Jake was born Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger on May 28, 1978, in Evanston, Illinois, US. He was named after his uncle, who passed away at a young age due to a road accident, just a year prior to Jake’s birth.

Jake, along with his siblings Dan and Rachel, was raised by his mother. His mother Eve Johnson was an artist and his father Ken Weinberger was a car dealer. Unfortunately, his parents divorced when he was still very young. Jake developed a strong relationship with his father later in his life.

Jake belongs to a mixed origin. His father is an Ashkenazi Jewish, while his mother is of English, Irish, and Polish Catholic origin.

Jake went to ‘New Trier High School’ in Winnetka from where he graduated before enrolling at the ‘University of Iowa.’ While he was in high school, Jake dropped the surname inherited from his father and replaced it with his mother’s maiden name.

Jake was an excellent sportsman. He became a member of ‘Sunday Men's Basketball League’ and competed in many games.

During his university days, Jake developed an interest in writing. He wrote a play in an attempt to earn an admission into the ‘Dramatic Writing Department of Tisch School of the Arts,’ NYU. As it was the topmost institute for playwright and performing arts, Jake’s admission into the school gave him confidence and ultimately helped him pursue his acting and writing career.

In 2002, Jake won two prizes for his writing skills. He won the ‘John Golden Playwriting Prize’ and ‘Sloan Fellowship for Screenwriting.’

His next aim was to put his scripts to use on a stage. He wrote the script for the play ‘Cousins,’ which was produced by ‘Ensemble Studio Theater.’

Jake was associated with ‘Midwesterners,’ a sketch comedy club, for five long years and performed at many notable venues like ‘Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre’ and ‘Surf Reality.’ Jake made major contributions towards structuring, scripting, and presenting the acts while he was associated with the club.

Jake also had to take up a few odd jobs to support himself. He worked as a waiter at a local casino, which he later described as a horrible experience as he was required to work in graveyard shifts. He also worked as a production assistant.

While he was in Los Angeles, he did a lot of theatre. He signed a contract with Samantha Daniels, an agent from an entertainment agency.

Jake made his main stream acting debut in 2007 when he appeared in the web series ‘Derek and Simon: The Show.’ The same year, he also appeared in television shows like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and ‘The Unit.’

In 2008, Jake made his film debut when he played a cameo role in the action flick ‘Redbelt.’ He landed his first major role in the rom-com film ‘Paper Heart,’ which released in 2009. In the film, Jake played a documentary filmmaker named ‘Nicholas Jasenovec’ who accompanies his co-filmmaker, played by Michael Cera, and together they set out on a journey that eventually helps them find their respective love partners. The film catered only to a specific set of audience and received mixed reactions from critics.

The same year, he appeared in an episode titled ‘Love Always’ in the crime drama series ‘Lie to Me.’ He then appeared in ‘Ceremony,’ a romantic comedy film. Though the film had some well-known actors like Michael Angarano and Uma Thurman, Jake managed to hog the limelight with his heart-warming performance.

He then played the role of ‘Jesus Christ’ in the 2011 stoner comedy film ‘A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.’ In the same year, he also played a minor role as ‘Eli’ in the rom-com ‘No Strings Attached.’

Jake was then cast in the American sitcom TV series ‘New Girl.’ The show made Jake a household name. ‘New Girl’ also provided him with an opportunity to play a full-fledged comedy role in television.

He was adored for his portrayal of ‘Nick Miller.’ Nick is a poor guy who fails in almost everything he gets into, including relationships. The show was a big hit and ran successfully for seven seasons.

The show brought Jake his first nomination for ‘Teen Choice Award’ under the ‘Best Actor Comedy’ category. He then received many other nominations for his role at various award ceremonies under several categories. He was also nominated for the ‘TCA Award’ for ‘Individual Achievement in Comedy.’

In 2013, Jake played the lead role in yet another comedy film. He starred alongside Olivia Wilde in ‘Drinking Buddies.’ Jake played the role of ‘Luke’ who is a colleague of ‘Kate,’ played by Olivia. They both work in a beer brewery and are crazy drunkards, but share an amazing chemistry.

Jake made his voice acting debut in the 2014 computer-animated comedy film ‘The Lego Movie.’ He then voiced characters for a host of animated movies and television shows like ‘High School USA,’ ‘BoJack Horseman,’ ‘We Bare Bears,’ ‘Comrade Detective,’ and ‘Smurfs: The Lost Village.’

Jake had a significant role in the adventure science fiction flick ‘Jurassic World,’ which released in 2015. He played the role of ‘Lowery Cruthers,’ the one who is equipped with all the information about the park. The same year, he debuted as a scriptwriter for the comedy film ‘Digging for Fire.’ He also co-wrote the film along with Swanberg.

Jake and Swanberg joined hands once again for the 2017 comedy film ‘Win It All.’ Jake also played the lead role in the film. He played ‘Eddie Garrett’ who tries to get out of his addiction for gambling. He then worked alongside Tom Cruise in the 2017 adventure flick ‘The Mummy.’

 In 2018, he starred in the comedy film ‘Tag’ alongside Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, and Jon Hamm. The same year, he also voiced ‘Peter B. Parker’ in the computer animated movie ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.’

He landed the lead role of ‘Grey McConnell,’ an ex-conman, in the ABC crime drama series ‘Stumptown’ in 2019. He was selected to voice ‘Ben Hopkins’ in Netflix’s adult animated comedy series ‘Hoops.’

Jake is married to an artist named Erin Payne since 2006. Erin and Jake are blessed with twin daughters.

Jake has always been secretive about his relationships and the news of him being married came across as a surprise to many of his fans.