Philip Johnson was just a regular teenager until he was spotted by Rosie O'Donnell, comedian and former host of the award-winning talk show The View. According to The Associated Press, the 17-year-old senior student at Cass Technological High School was eating lunch at a popular downtown eatery called Small Plates when O'Donnell saw him and asked whether he would like to try out for a film, thinking that he had a face that belonged in pictures. He took a screen test the next day and won the title role.
Now, Philip Johnson will be working with the former View host in America, a film based on the E.R. Frank book of the same name about a 16-year-old boy in the foster-care system. O'Donnell, whose recent credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, Queer as Folk, and Nip/Tuck, will be playing the therapist to the title character, and will be serving as executive producer to the project as well.