JOHNJAMIESON
On acting, faith and making room for a life of his own.
When I opened the studio door, the first thing I noticed about John was his gaze. He looks you straight in the eye when he speaks, and there’s a firmness to the way he says things. He was positive and upbeat, too. That combination stayed with me after the shoot.
John Jamieson Michaels is 34, from Thomasville, Georgia, and based in Los Angeles, California. For this conversation, I wanted to hear his thoughts on acting, life online and the things he makes room for away from work.
How would you describe yourself today in one sentence?
A faith-driven leading man who’s learning to turn ambition into ownership, boundaries into strength, and success into a legacy bigger than himself.
When you imagined becoming an actor, what did you imagine the life would actually look like? How close is the reality?
I think my definition of the dream is changing. At first, it was probably more along the lines of: “I want to become a successful actor.” Now it seems closer to: “I want acting to be one expression of a life I own.”
Actor. Model. Producer. Founder. Investor. Health/faith voice. Eventually someone who can say no to almost anything because his livelihood doesn’t depend upon saying yes.
That may actually be closer to the life I was imagining all along—I just originally called the whole thing “being an actor.”
You work in both acting and modeling, two professions where your image becomes part of the work. What’s something about you that neither a photograph nor a performance reveals very easily?
Outside of acting and modeling, who I am in real life is very silly/goofy and fun-loving. I don’t think the world has gotten to see me be silly nearly as much as the people in my immediate reality.
We’re entering a moment when technology can replicate a performer’s face, voice and movements with increasing accuracy. If someone could create a perfect digital version of you tomorrow, what do you think it still wouldn’t be able to replicate?
My heart and my soul. Man (Human) is sown together with the fabrics of Heaven. No machine can replicate that.
Do you think your face belongs entirely to you?
Not entirely. Biologically, I didn’t create myself, so massive shoutout to God and my parents for that! Also, brands/businesses/people pay for the usage of my image and likeness for a specific amount of my time. In that regard, others literally own my face to a degree, lol.
At the same time that AI is changing performance, the screen itself is changing. You’ve worked in stories made to be watched vertically on a phone, while the traditional dream of acting was built around movie theaters and television. What makes something feel like “real acting” to you?
When someone is so deeply rooted and authentically connected to themselves in the present moment that no one else in the history of the world can replicate what the actor just did on screen.
Social media has also made the line between person and performer much less clear. When does sharing your life start to feel like performing your life?
Very well-worded and thought-provoking question in 2026! Honestly, that’s one thing that keeps me from posting more than I do. I’m learning to navigate these most interesting and disruptive times just like the rest of us.
Do you ever feel like you have to be interesting even when you’re not working?
At this point in my life, I have come to realize “the boring life” is the good life. Good food, good people, spiritual connection, good health and good healthy habits are what really matter.
Success is often created through repeatable and often what seem to be boring habits done consistently. I’m weird enough as an individual, from my career choice to my personality, for life to stay interesting.
I’ve also grown into the “take me as I am or leave me be” perspective. If I’m not someone’s vibe, I have no problem walking out of a room. Some people will think I’m interesting, some won’t; either way, I’ll align with who I am supposed to!
Health is clearly important to you. At the same time, we’re living through an era of sleep scores, supplements, protein targets, wearables, biohacking and constant self-optimization. Do you think we’ve become too obsessed with being healthy?
You know, I actually have a holistic health coach/mentor who says neurosis is a mental health disorder. It’s one thing to optimize, and it’s another to be neurotic and obsessive.
My advice to most is to live by the 80/20 principle and enjoy your life. We should do our best to stay away from pesticides, herbicides, and all the other poisonous suicides in our food, water and air supply, while enjoying the reality in front of us.
What’s something you do purely because you enjoy it, with absolutely no health, career or productivity benefit attached?
Motorcycling. There’s no other more visceral feeling in my life! I like to think it taps me into the same level of masculinity that men of old had—going off to war and not knowing if you’re going to come back vibes. It’s dangerous and extremely liberating to the soul at the same time.
What’s something about your life right now that you’re still figuring out?
Becoming an undeniable actor.
What’s the last thing you changed your mind about completely?
Wild-caught sardines!! Haha, alright, hear me out. They’re a nutritional powerhouse packed full of healthy fats. They may come off as gross or weird if you judge them, but some of the healthiest, year-round leanest and most beautiful people I know are sardine fans!
If acting went exactly the way you hope it will, what kind of work would make you feel that all of this was worth it?
Work people watch that connects them with the depths of their humanity. In other words, art that connects people to the experience of being human.
You know when you’re watching your favorite actor and a moment occurs in the scene that you viscerally feel throughout your body? That is what made me want to act.
I want acting to be one expression of a life I own.
JOHN JAMIESON
