Melissa Johns is a British actress and disability activist. She is known for playing Sadie in ''

The Interceptor ''The Interceptor'' is a British drama television serial that was first broadcast on BBC One from 10 June until 29 July 2015. The eight-part series was written by Tony Saint and made by BBC Drama Productions. The series was cancelled after on ...

'',

Imogen Pascoe ''Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters introduced in 2017, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by series producer Kate Oates. The first notab ...

on ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'', Hannah Taylor in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'', and Miss Scott in ''

Grantchester Grantchester is a village and civil parish on the River Cam or Granta in South Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about south of Cambridge. Name The village of Grantchester is listed in the 1086 Domesday Book as ''Grantesete'' and ''Grauntset ...

''. Johns is an ambassador for disability in the arts and advocates for better representation of disability on- and off-screen and stage.

Early life

Johns was born in Herefordshire and grew up in the town of

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

, where she attended

John Masefield High School John Masefield High School is a secondary school with an academy status, located in Ledbury, Herefordshire, England. It is named after the poet John Masefield. Description The school lies to the south of the small town of Ledbury adjacent to t ...

. She was born without her right forearm and hand. Johns is from a working-class background and references this in her speeches. Johns trained at

East 15 Acting School East 15 Acting School (East 15) is a British drama school in Loughton, Essex.Its degrees are awarded by the University of Essex, with which it merged on 1 September 2000. As of 2020, Essex University, where East 15 is located, has been ranked No. ...

(University of Essex) and since graduating has worked in TV, theatre, and radio. During her time at East 15, she was one of the first disabled actors to win the

Laurence Olivier Bursary The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) is an umbrella organisation for West End theatre in London. Founded in 1908, as Society of West End Theatre Managers, then Society of West End Theatre in 1975, changing to its current name in 1994, the (SOLT) ...

Award.

Accolades

Between 2017 and 2020, Johns won several awards, including JCI's Ten Outstanding Young Persons in the U.K, Shaw Trust's Power List, U.K's 100 most influential disabled people, JCI's Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World, and she was shortlisted for Positive Role Model of the Year Award in the

National Diversity Awards The National Diversity Awards is an awards ceremony which honours positive role models, entrepreneurs and community organisations across several different strands within the equality and diversity sector. It is held annually in various venues ac ...

. In 2019, she was selected as one of 21 actors for the BAFTA Elevate programme. The same year, she was picked as Alumna of the Year 2019 for the University of Essex & East 15 Acting School for her disability advocacy in the arts.

Phone hack

In 2018, Johns' smartphone was hacked and intimate photos were released. Johns used the situation to speak out against body shaming and combat taboos around disability, sex, and body dysmorphia. The experience inspired the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

drama ''In My Own Skin'', written by Debbie Oates with Johns, and starring Johns.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johns, Melissa Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British actors Actors with disabilities