Michael Johnston (born February 22, 1996) is an American actor. He appeared as supporting character Corey Bryant in the MTV series Teen Wolf, and had starring roles in the independent film Slash (2016) and as Baron "Bear" Bailey in the horror film Obsession (2025), with the latter bringing him critical attention. He is also a voice actor for animation and video games, including as the English voice of Mikleo in Tales of Zestiria and its anime adaptation.
Early life Johnston was born on February 22, 1996. He grew up in Ruth, North Carolina. After graduating from high school early, he moved with his father to Chicago, where he studied acting at The Second City. After six months there, he moved to Los Angeles.
Career After unlocking a behind-the-scenes featurette in the video game Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance that showed voice actors recording character vocalizations, Johnston became interested in voice acting. Inspired by the video, he began creating two-dimensional point-and-click and Flash games, for which he performed his own voiceovers.
When he was 12 years old, he started auditioning for voice-over roles in commercials, animation, unpaid fan dubs, and student animation projects from a recording studio he had set up in his bedroom. At age sixteen, he booked his first paid role, in a Little Caesars commercial. He also provided narration for the Wubble Bubble Ball infomercials in 2014. Voice acting Johnston has voiced characters for video games, including Reed in Dust: An Elysian Tail, Mikleo in Tales of Zestiria, and Ephemer in Kingdom Hearts III. He also provided his voice for roles in TV shows such as Atsushi Minegishi in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea and the eponymous character, Conrad Zacharie "Zak" Storm, in Zak Storm (both for English dubs). For films, he voiced the English dubbed versions of characters like Wasabi Kawamura in Ride Your Wave (2019), Shawn in The Academy of Magic (2020), and Hiiragi Yatsuse in My Oni Girl (2024). Johnston also currently voices young Nathan Summers in the Marvel Studios Animation series X-Men '97 (2024).
Television Johnston appeared in a small role in MTV's teen comedy-drama Awkward. He then played Corey Bryant, a recurring character in the final two seasons of Teen Wolf, from 2015 to 2017.
Film In 2016, Johnston had the lead role in the comedy film Slash, where he played Neil, a 15-year-old high school student who writes slash fiction. He also appeared in the indie supernatural horror film Bornless Ones (2017). In 2021, he played Noah Halsey in action-adventure film Endangered Species.
Johnston received attention in 2026 for his lead role as Baron "Bear" Bailey in the supernatural-horror film Obsession (2025), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Johnston's performance has been praised as a critique of the "nice guy". Following his breakthrough role in Obsession, Johnston signed with The Gersh Agency for film, television, and brand partnerships.
On July 27, 2026, Johnston was revealed to be in talks to join the cast of the untitled Mummy film.
Personal life Johnston is gay.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2012 Bee Wars Buzzalot Voice Totes Burgers Evan Short film 2016 Slash Neil Shafer 2017 Bornless Ones Zach The Maestro Pietro Castelnuovo-Tedesco 2018 Crazy for the Boys Chad 2019 Ride Your Wave Wasabi Kawamura Voice; English dub 2020 The Academy of Magic Shawn Voice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. 2021 Endangered Species Noah Halsey 2024 My Oni Girl Hiiragi Yatsuse Voice; English dub 2025 Obsession Baron "Bear" Bailey 2027 Untitled The Mummy Returns sequel Filming
Television Year Title RoleNotes 2012–2014 TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise Bubb / additional voices Voice; 3 episodes 2015 Tales of Zestiria: Dawn of the Shepherd Mikleo Voice; English dub Awkward Senior Episode: "The Graduates" Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea Atsushi Minegishi Voice; English dub 2015–2017 Teen Wolf Corey Bryant 25 episodes 2016 Tales of Zestiria the X Mikleo Voice; English dub (credited as Philip Lamont) Pure Genius Luke Wallace Episode: "It's Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Silk Surgery" 2016–2018 Zak Storm Conrad Zacharie "Zak" Storm Voice; English dub 2017 Home: Adventures with Tip & Oh Keanu Voice; episode: "Tip's Deep Dish / Garbage Day" 2018 Supergirl Adam Episode: "Rather the Fallen Angel" 2020 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Shoichi Voice; English dub 2022 S.W.A.T. Watson Episode: "Cry Foul" 2023 Akuma-kun Akuma II / Ichirō Umoregi Voice; English dub 2024 Time Patrol Bon Thoth / additional voices 2024–present X-Men '97 Young Nathan Summers Voice; 3 episodes 2025–present Gil Next Door Wolly Pondbottom Voice 2025-2026Valt the Wonder DeerValtVoice; English dub (Season 3)2026 Nippon Sangoku: The Three Nations of the Crimson Sun Tonotsugu Taira Voice; English dub 9-1-1 Sam Drayton Episode: "Where There's Smoke"
Video games Year Title Voice roleNotes 2012 Dust: An Elysian Tail Reed 2015 Tales of Zestiria Mikleo English dub 2017 Fire Emblem Heroes Lugh Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Ephemer English dub 2018 Last Year: The Nightmare Nick 2019 Kingdom Hearts III Ephemer English dub The Blackout Club Male Player / Daxton Concrete Genie Zach 2020 Marvel's Avengers Dante Terrain of Magical Expertise CrashR 2021 The Artful Escape Francis Vendetti Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Hinokami Chronicles Shoichi English dub2023 Paranormal Files: Silent Willow Peter The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Danny 2024 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Sweep the Board Shoichi English dub2026 God of War Sons of Sparta Theophilos Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Peter
Discography Gravity (2024)
Awards and nominations Award Year Work Category Result Critics' Choice Super Awards 2026 Obsession Best Actor in a Horror Movie Best Villain in a Movie
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