The man behind the voice

Ben Patrick Johnson wears many hats – and wears them all well

“You’re watching Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network.”
If you have, in fact, watched Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network, then you’ve heard the deep, commanding voice of Ben Patrick Johnson.

Actually, nowadays you’re bound to hear him on a variety of networks – CBS, NBC, Fox, The Big Ten Network, even Nickelodeon. As one of the busiest voice-over actors in Hollywood, Johnson is in high demand. (If you should ever get the opportunity to talk on the telephone with him, as I did, you’ll understand why; you won’t ever want to hang up!)

Many people accustomed to hearing his voice, such as regular NASCAR viewers, might be surprised to learn that the “voice of the sport” is an out and proud gay man.
“I find it amusing that America hands me its testosterone, sports and kids programming,” Johnson told me, pointing out that it simply means we’ve reached a point in this country “where people can truly be evaluated on their performance (rather than) on who they are.”

A typical day for Johnson involves 10-20 voice-over sessions, which he does primarily from a studio in his Hollywood Hills home. Although it is his “day job,” there is a regular Renaissance Man behind the voice: a model, activist, author and philanthropist who is never without multiple side projects to occupy his time. Currently, he is busy promoting is latest novel, If The Rains Don’t Cleanse.

Published in June 2009, If The Rains Don’t Cleanse is a biographical tale of his parents’ experiences while serving as educational missionaries in the Belgian Congo in the 1950s. It details what Johnson calls “an incredibly rich family history” and “unbelievable stuff.” The book is a huge departure from his first three, all of which have a decidedly more “gay” flavor. This latest is a labor of love that began 15 years ago, and Johnson concedes that straying from what his readers are accustomed to presented some risks.
“It’s a risk for me as an author and for the publisher that represents the book,” he said.

Nonetheless, the hardcover release was a success, and Johnson says he has been surprised by the connection it has made with readers. While his first three books (In and Out in Hollywood, Third and Heaven, and One Size Fits All) spoke largely to gay readers, If The Rains Don’t Cleanse figures to introduce him to an entirely new audience that hasn’t connected with him before.
“There has been an embrace – particularly from an older generation, people in their 40s, 50, 60s, even 70s … people of faith.”
Connecting with all these audiences is a priority for Johnson at this time, as the paperback version is currently being marketed.
“It’s a real challenge,” said Johnson. “Like most people we want recognition and validation for what we’ve done. … (But) I’m kind of shy. I like privacy and I am kind of quiet.”

“Shy” and “quiet” might not be descriptive words most people would expect from someone like Johnson who, in addition to having one of the most recognized voices in America, has a face and body that can draw you in just as easily. His prior work as a fitness model has landed him on the covers of such magazines as Instinct, Pink, XY, Blue and Gloss, and on multiple fitness and bodybuilding Web sites.

He acknowledges that “pure narcissism and insecurity” drew him into that world, mainly because he was teased maliciously at school for being overweight and awkward.
“I was ashamed of my body,” he told me. “At one point I was so down on my physical appearance I went through family photos and destroyed my image because I couldn’t bare to look at myself.”

Yes, Johnson was another geeky, fat, unpopular gay kid who, as an adult, transformed into a successful, good-looking, confident gay man with an Adonis body. It’s a tale as old as time. But he makes no apologies for being physically fit to the point where men (and women) both envy and fantasize about him. In a community where having a great body is both desired and disparaged (many times by the same folk!) Johnson views it simply as a positive thing.
“It’s a response to the stereotype of the androgynous or hyper-feminized view of a gay man,” he said, agreeing that it is empowering to see muscles and masculinity represented in our community.
“There’s the Adonis part, sure; but then there’s the masculine, warrior part!”

True to the saying that he’s not just another pretty face with a great body, Johnson continues his work in the areas of activism and philanthropy. In 2006 he launched the podcast “Life on the Left Coast,” which was eventually turned into magazine format. After garnering an enormous amount of interest – including negative attention form the right wing – he put it on hiatus to focus on his writing.

That same year he created The Ben Patrick Johnson Foundation, which aims to help GLBT causes, education issues, people of faith and women of developing nations. The Foundation also passes funding to Habitat for Humanity and the anti-child abuse organization iCan for Kids. He says it is largely a pass-through for his own philanthropic giving. It supports other groups, with an emphasis on human rights and the expansion of human rights.
“I come from a family history of being service-oriented and philanthropic,” he told me.
“My parents didn’t have money, but they gave a lot to help make the world a better place.”

It takes a handful of assistants and a strong supporting team to help Johnson with all his activities and to achieve all his goals. Though some times it all becomes “too much and I feel like I am not paying each element its due,” Johnson wouldn’t consider not juggling his varied and unique interests. If you can do it all – and do it all well – why would anyone?

 

THE BEN PATRICK JOHNSON FILE

Occupation: Actor, Author, Activist, Model
Resides: Hollywood Hills
Sports: Tennis, Bodybuilding
Favorite Athlete: Manny Paquiao
Occupation other than own he’d like to attempt: Ultimate Fighter
Relationship status: Single
Proudest accomplishment: Seeing the publication of first book