The Man, The Myth, The Movie Star: Jonathan Carlton - The real Johnny Cage.

Jonathan Carlton never believed he was a man of great destiny, or even a man of great renown. A shy Californian boy, Johnny was a recluse most of his childhood, and resigned himself to studies during his early teenage years. Awkward pubescent obscurity came naturally to him, only in the coming days would he emerge from that cage, and be reborn.
Born in Venice, California in March 1980 to Marsha and Vince Carlton, Johnny grew up relatively underprivileged. Living the life of an only child left him wanting for companionship that he would never get from his workaholic father, and alcoholic mother. His mothers diagnosis of liver cancer did not come as a shock to Johnny, who refused to speak for months after his mothers death in the July of 1997. Johnny's father, Vince worked as an intern at an advertising firm and moonlighted as a stage-hand for various local theatre productions. Father and son would end up working together during these productions as after his graduation, Johnny, distancing himself from his original idea of studying engineering, joined the local theatre troupe, where he perfected his new found passion.
Some months after his first show, Johnny began gathering more fame for his dark horse personality and great substance in roles such as Jean Val Jean, Billy Flynn, and even Buddy Holly. Thirsting for something a little more mainstream, Johnny auditioned for a role in the 2002 independent thriller ``World's Most Wanted''. This surprising acting U-turn sparked a new wave of offers for Johnny, at a time when his personal life would find itself taking a U-turn as well.

After riding the success of his first movie role, Johnny moved to Hollywood, to seek his big break, and to escape the reality of his fathers sudden death from a heart attack. To distance himself further from his troubled past, Johnny took the surname Cage, after his favourite comic book character, Luke Cage.

Failing to break into anything big as such, Johnny, under the advice of his close friend and bodyguard Bo, began training in Jeet Kune Do and Shorin Ryu under Master Boyd. Perfecting his martial arts and excelling above the other students, Johnny came to master these forms in years of practice, even surpassing Bo in strength and speed.

Studying martial arts for years left Johnny more brash and cocky than ever, to the chagrin of Master Boyd, and even Bo. However, this would open up a new world of possibilities for Johnny. At a time in Hollywood when martial arts was rife, Johnny appeared in a spate of movies such as; Massive Strike in 2008, Ninja Mime in 2009 and the critically acclaimed Citizen Cage in the same year, for which he won a Peoples Choice, and an MTV movie award.
His new found fame would take a toll on his personal life however, as he began appearing in much more fantastical productions, critics began to question the validity of his martial arts skill, even going as far to say the studio would employ a stuntman to do all of his physical work for him. Enraged by this, and fuelled by drinking binges, Johnny began picking fights in random bars in the Hollywood area, leading to numerous arrests, and the eventual dissolve of his relationship with long term partner, actress Deena Dill.

Johnny could not anticipate what would come soon, as he filmed the final shot of his new picture ``Every Dog Has It's Day'' in 2012, Johnny became exasperated by the poorly performed choreography of his co stars and stormed back stage, confronting a man he had long since forgotten. Sitting in Johnny's chair was Master Boyd, his martial arts instructor and mentor. Feeling Johnny's enthusiasm and self-worth fading, Master Boyd mysteriously presented him with a withered scroll etched in Mandarin, that Johnny took a moment to understand. As Boyd departed, Johnny, unaware of the truth of his mentors appearance, sensed a spark of renewal for his career, and it would begin at Pier 40, Hong Kong.

Johnny would win the Mortal Kombat tournament, and with it, the respect and admiration he once had, and so desperately craves once more.

Author : Gary Stewart

Creation date: 2012-6-16-18-40

Modification date: 2012-6-17-19-51