Johanna Watts
as Rachel Bailey
Johanna Watts is not easily defined. Johanna’s boisterous personality conceals a pensive, sensitive, young woman who has seen a great deal of tragedy and triumph. Daughter of hippies, and child of the eighties, Johanna Watts was born in the mountains of Tennessee, then spent her childhood with her mother, Frances Watts, and the open road. The two traveled across the Southeastern United States, singing folk songs to pass long hours in the car. Johanna’s early childhood was spent in a continual state of transition, moving from state to state, staying only long enough to leave something behind. With over ten homes behind them, Johanna and her mother pulled in to settle down in Gainesville, Florida. Although they continued to shift homes almost biannually for the next ten years, Gainesville remained the center of their orbit. Without the companionship of siblings, Johanna learned to entertain herself with art and imagination. From a very early age, Johanna demonstrated a love for art and a flare for performance. Like so many young girls, Johanna loved to play dress-up. She spent hours by herself creating characters and elaborate plots. By the age of six, Johanna knew she wanted to be an actress. Never shy about singing or dancing, her passion lay in self-expression. At the age of ten, she performed in her first professional theatrical role, singing in a musical at the Hippodrome State Theater. After that, she knew she was hooked. In the winter of 1993, she was diagnosed to have ovarian Cancer. Although weakened by chemo, she continued to perform, write, direct and act in high school shows. Johanna also excelled in academics, taking mostly honors or advanced placement classes, and she dual enrolled in college her junior year of high school. By her senior year, she was taking classes at Santa Fe Community College. Graduating in the top ten percent of the class, with a full scholarship to any college in Florida in the major of her choice, she choose to pursue theater at the University of Florida. Johanna's first film role came the first year out of high school. A professor at the university received a grant from PBS to produce a film. When offered the lead in the film, Johanna was both thrilled and terrified. Learning to act for film by being on set for twelve to sixteen hours a day was maddening but effectively set her course for the future. When the shoot ended, she left the university in search of more professional acting opportunities. She visited and studied briefly in both New York City and Los Angeles, then moved to Austin, Texas. There she quickly fell into the very active live theater scene. Johanna began to work full time as an actor with the Zachary Scott Project Interact and within months she was helping to write and produce plays. Meeting such a creative and collaborative group of people reminded her of her earlier film goals. She acquired an Austin agent and began auditioning for additional professional work. It was through the talent agent that Johanna met Bill Narum and SingularMedia Studios, which lead to the creation of this website. Following success with a supporting role in an independent film and work on several commercial projects as a model, she ventured forth to Los Angeles. Establishing herself in Hollywood, Johanna is currently signed with the well respected commercial talent agency Commercials Unlimited and is interviewing theatrical and print agencies while being courted by several management companies.