Jonathan Levinson is a
fictional character created by
Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
for the
television series ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
''. The character is portrayed by
Danny Strong.
Character development
Strong described the early development of his character in an interview with the U.K. ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine''. He described his character as the "
Kenny of ''Buffy''. Except that he never dies."
[Springer, Matt, "Big Man on Campus", from '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer magazine'' #13 (UK, September 2000), page 20-21.] Strong had initially auditioned for the role of Xander, but lost out to Nicholas Brendon. He first appeared in the
unaired Buffy the Vampire Slayer pilot
The non-broadcast pilot episode of ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' was produced by 20th Century Fox in 1996 to pitch a series to networks. The twenty-five-and-a-half-minute production was written and directed by ''Buffy'' creator Joss Whedon, and wa ...
in a bit part simply named "Student", and subsequently appeared in a number of episodes. He said that often he appeared in scenes that could have been done by other characters but that "They'll have Jonathan do it, to keep the continuity of the world".
Writer/directors
David Greenwalt and
Marti Noxon both stated in the DVD commentaries for "
Reptile Boy
The second season of the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' premiered on September 15, 1997 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 19, 1998. The first 13 episodes aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET, beginning with episode 14 ...
" and "
What's My Line", respectively, that Danny Strong was the actor that they would call on whenever they needed a good victim, both citing his good "victim face". Eventually the character grew out of this frequent use.
[''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' second season DVD set. 20th century Fox (region 1, 2002), disc two and three.]
Explaining the potential appeal of the character, he said, "I think everyone is sort of like Jonathan. Either they're like Jonathan or they're trying to cover up their Jonathan qualities. Either they're awkward and shy, or they're doing everything they can not to appear awkward and shy. I'm not really very shy, but I certainly can be awkward at times."
Appearances
Jonathan made 34 canonical Buffyverse appearances.
; ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...
''
Jonathan appeared as a guest in 28 episodes:
* Season 2 (1997-98): "
Inca Mummy Girl", "
Reptile Boy
The second season of the television series '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' premiered on September 15, 1997 on The WB and concluded its 22-episode season on May 19, 1998. The first 13 episodes aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm ET, beginning with episode 14 ...
", "
What's My Line, Part 2", "
Bad Eggs", "
Passion", "
Go Fish"
* Season 3 (1998-99): "
Dead Man's Party", "
Homecoming", "
The Wish", "
Earshot", "The Prom", "
Graduation Day, Part 2"
* Season 4 (2000): "
Superstar"
* Season 6 (2001-02): "
Flooded
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrolog ...
", "
Life Serial", "
Smashed", "
Gone
Gone may refer to:
Grammar
* Gone, the past participle of go (verb)
** Have gone or have been, contrasting verb forms in some contexts
Arts, entertainment, and media Film
* ''Gone'', a 2002 a thriller written, directed by and starring Tim Chey
...
", "
Dead Things
"Dead Things" is the 13th episode of season 6 of the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. It originally appeared on February 5, 2002. The episode was directed by James A. Contner and written by Steven S. DeKnight.
Plot
After having se ...
", "
Normal Again", "
Entropy", "
Seeing Red", "
Villains", "
Two to Go
"Two to Go" is the 21st episode of season 6 of the television show ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer''. The name of the episode is a reference to the previous one, which ends with Willow saying "One down" after killing Warren. Despite the death of Tara ...
", "
Grave"
* Season 7 (2002-03): "
Conversations with Dead People", "
Never Leave Me", "
First Date", "
Storyteller"
Jonathan appeared in 6 issues:
* Season 10 (2014, 2016): "Return to Sunnydale, Parts 1 & 2", "In Pieces on the Ground, Part 3", "Own It, Parts 2, 4 & 5"
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levinson, Jonathan
Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters
Buffyverse characters who use magic
Fictional characters from Los Angeles County, California
Television characters introduced in 1997
Fictional attempted suicides
American male characters in television
Fictional high school students
sv:Buffy och vampyrerna#Jonathan Levinson