Alexzandra Spencer Johnson (born November 4, 1986) is a Canadian actress, singer, songwriter, and musician. Known for her distinctive sound since her debut in 2010, her first album, Voodoo, was independently released with her brother, Brendan Johnson. Over the years, she has released several albums and EPs, including: The Basement Recordings series (2011–2013), Skipping Stone (2012) and her sophomore album Let 'Em Eat Cake (2014). She continued to evolve with subsequent albums A Stranger Time (2017), Still Alive (2020) and Seasons (2023).
Johnson is best known for her roles as Jude Harrison in the CTV series Instant Star, as Annie Thelen in the Disney Channel series So Weird, and as Erin Ulmer in the 2006 horror film Final Destination 3. She additionally guest starred as Saturn Girl, a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, in the series Smallville. She was nominated three times for a Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Children's or Youth Program or Series (Instant Star), winning the award in 2008.
Johnson was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, and raised in nearby Coquitlam. She is of Swedish, Scottish, and English descent. The sixth of ten children, Johnson says her family embraced the arts and being creative. One brother is an actor and screenwriter, another brother does graphic design, her younger brother performs music, and her brother Brendan is a singer-songwriter and music producer with whom she often collaborates.
From age three, Johnson often sang for her large extended family. By age six, she was receiving vocal training, participating in festivals with her local youth choir by age seven, and giving solo performances at school and community functions. At age nine, she had entered the P.N.E. talent search, becoming a finalist. She participated in many talent contests and festivals, winning a National Anthem Contest at the age of 11, with her rendition of the Canadian National Anthem, "O Canada", heard on national television. This resulted in radio and television interviews, as well as interest from management. That year, she was voted Best Anthem singer of the season by the Vancouver Sun.
Locally, Johnson was often referred to as the "West Coast Celine" and sang the Canadian National Anthem at games for the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the NBA's Vancouver Grizzlies. She performed at charity events and fairs around the province, in addition to the BC Summer Games recording their theme song, "Reach for the Stars". She went on to appear on the Variety Club show singing a duet with Bob McGrath, sang the first set of songs at the Molson Indy (a major car race), and entertained on New Year's Eve at Planet Hollywood at the age of 12.
Although Johnson was only focused on a music career at the time, she decided to pursue a career in acting at the age of 11, where she "walked into an acting agency and told them [she] wanted to sing". She landed auditions for commercials and a television pilot entitled "Most Talented Kids". in 1999.
Johnson auditioned for the Disney Channel original series So Weird, which was casting for a lead actress who could also sing for the final season of the show. At the age of 13, Johnson replaced the lead character in the Disney Channel series So Weird for the show's final season. Johnson portrayed the lead role of Annie Thelen, which combined her acting and musical talents. The role featured her singing alongside Mackenzie Phillips. She showed an interest in songwriting, co-writing one of the songs for the show.
On July 22, 2000, Johnson was featured in Billboard for the first time, she went on to be featured in sixteen different issues. Her highest ranking was number two in "The Top 10 Favorite Artist Picks" for "The Most Popular New Talent on Broadband Talent Net" as of June 2, 2001, after 33 weeks on. Her co-write from Disney’s So Weird, "Dream About You" charted six different times and came in at number one in "Radio Play Favorite Song Requests" for "The Most Listened-to New Tracks on Broadband Talent Net" on November 11, 2000. Her cover of Canadian girl group Prestige’s song, "Wishing Star" retitled as "Wishing On A Star", came in at number five in the same issue. Also "Sunshine Reigns", an early credited co-write with songwriters Trevan Wong and Doris Young, charted at number three on July 22, 2000.
In the year 2000, a song performed by Johnson entitled "Everything (Feels Like New)" was featured in the Disney Channel Original Movie The Other Me, starring Andrew Lawrence. She promoted the project by performing a few verses in an impromptu a capella that aired on Disney Channel during her Express Yourself interview feature that was highly circulated during commercial breaks at the time. A low quality demo of the song leaked in full online. However, a full studio version of the song was never released.
After the cancellation of So Weird, Johnson continued her interest in songwriting, co-writing with her brother Brendan Johnson. Several labels offered her contracts, but she held off, wanting more creative control and a hand in the songwriting. In 2001, Johnson teamed up with the production/songwriting team of Johnny Elkins and CJ Vanston. Her song "Transparent Lies", was recorded for a compilation album titled Fill Your Head. The album was compiled featuring several different artists with songs using certain words in order to help students with their SAT scores. Though it was initially released as a physical and digital compilation album, the physical is no longer in print, but a low quality digital copy can still be purchased for download from the original official website. Her work with Vanston and Elkins featured a more bubblegum pop sound than what she preferred and ended around 2003. Johnson continued to work with her brother Brendan recording their own music. These were the songs included on the demo CD sent to the executives of Instant Star with her audition tape.
In 2019 in an interview with The So Weird Podcast, Johnson confirmed that her So Weird and Cold Squad co-star Belinda Metz played a key role in her landing the role of Jude Harrison in Instant Star. Select scenes from their original audition tape were released as part of the bonus features on the Instant Star, Season 1 DVD boxset.
2004–2007: Instant Star and Final Destination
Throughout 2004, Johnson made various appearances on Canadian television series including The Chris Isaak Show, The Collector, and Cold Squad where she performed two original songs as twins Dierdre and Tricia Spence. Her Disney’s So Weird co-star Belinda Metz also plays both of her character’s mother. Years later, Tricia Spence’s swan song “Eight Days” was unofficially given to fans and posted online after much petition.
In February 2004, Johnson sent in an audition tape to the producers of Degrassi: The Next Generation for their upcoming show Instant Star. They were specifically looking for a Canadian teen actress/vocalist to play the lead role, Jude Harrison. The first audition tape Executive Producer Stephen Stohn received was Johnson's via Canadian Singer-songwriter and actress Belinda Metz, and he was convinced she was perfect for the role. After its first season, Instant Star was nominated for three Gemini Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the American Emmy Award) in the category of Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series, including a nomination for Best Performance (Alexz Johnson). On August 28, 2007, the show received three more Gemini Award nominations, in the category of Best Children's or Youth Program or Series, including another for Best Performance (Alexz Johnson, in the episode, "I Fought the Law").
Johnson sang all of the songs that her character Jude, on Instant Star performed on the show. She recorded soundtracks for each of the four seasons of Instant Star: Songs from Instant Star, Songs from Instant Star Two, Songs from Instant Star Three, and Songs From Instant Star Four. She co-wrote five of the songs on the first season's soundtrack, including "24 Hours", "Let Me Fall", "Criminal, "Skin", and "That Girl", which Johnson had written before when she was fourteen. She also co-wrote "Frozen" & "Shatter Me", both of which were featured in the show but were never considered for the soundtrack.