# Paul Johansson

Paul Johansson (born January 26, 1964) is an American-born Canadian actor and director in film and television, best known for playing Dan Scott on the WB/CW series, One Tree Hill, The Notebook and for his role as Nick Wolfe on the short lived Highlander: The Series spin-off Highlander: The Raven. He directed the 2011 film adaptation of Ayn Rand's novel, Atlas Shrugged: Part I.

## Acting career

Johansson landed his first role on the soap opera Santa Barbara. He played Greg Hughes from 1989 to 1990. Soon he made appearances in other television shows such as Parker Lewis Can't Lose and Beverly Hills, 90210, and later recurred on Lonesome Dove: The Series and starred on Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years.
Johansson became well-known to fans of 90210 for playing John Sears, a fraternity brother who unsuccessfully vied for the affections of Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth) and set up Steve Sanders (Ian Ziering) to burglarize a professor's office. The character returned for the season 4 finale.
He also appeared in commercials, most notably as the delivery man in a Diet Coke commercial. He has appeared in the films Soapdish, John Q and Alpha Dog, and had a small uncredited role in The Notebook. He portrayed the role of Dan Scott in One Tree Hill beginning in 2003 until the show's end in 2012. He subsequently featured in Takashi Miike's 2003 film Gozu, appearing as a man with a cow's head. In 2003 Johansson wrote and directed the film The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie. He has also directed several episodes of One Tree Hill. In 2006 he starred in Emily Skopov's Novel Romance, alongside Traci Lords and Sherilyn Fenn. He appeared in the 7th season of The Drew Carey Show, playing a sportscaster.
He is the director of Atlas Shrugged: Part I (2011), the first third of a trilogy based on the novel by Ayn Rand. The film received an approval rating of 12% on Rotten Tomatoes based on reviews from 52 critics.

## Personal life

His mother, Joanne Leone Johansson, died on October 15, 2011, after a 20-year battle with breast cancer. The eleventh episode of the ninth season of the CW's One Tree Hill (titled "Danny Boy") was dedicated to her memory.
He is the son of professional hockey player Earl Johnson (ice hockey). Earl went by Johnson when he was playing hockey, but he later changed the family name to Johansson to reflect his Swedish heritage.
Paul was born in the US, but raised in Canada. He has citizenship in both countries.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | Soapdish | Blair Brennan/Bolt | |
| 1992 | Martial Law 2: Undercover | Spencer Hamilton | Direct-to-video film |
| 1993 | Midnight Witness | Paul | |
| 1993 | When the Party's Over | Henry | |
| 1997 | She's So Lovely | Intern #2 | |
| 1998 | Carnival of Souls | Michael | |
| 1999 | Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies | Gregory | Direct-to-video film |
| 2000 | Glory Glory | Wes | |
| 2002 | John Q | Tuck Lampley | |
| 2002 | Edge of Madness | Henry Mullen | |
| 2003 | Darkness Falling | Sean Leonard | |
| 2004 | Berserker | Barek | |
| 2004 | Window Theory | Stu | |
| 2004 | The Notebook | Allie's Mom's Ex Boyfriend | Uncredited |
| 2006 | Alpha Dog | Peter Johansson | |
| 2006 | Novel Romance | Jake Buckley | |
| 2008 | Toxic | Gus | |
| 2009 | The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day | Kuntsler | |
| 2011 | Atlas Shrugged: Part I | John Galt | |
| 2013 | The Winner 3D | Darkman | |
| 2014 | Kid Cannabis | Detective Morgan | |
| 2014 | The Palmer Supremacy | Ben Compost | |
| 2016 | Dear Eleanor | Hugh | |
| 2016 | The River Thief | Saul | |
| 2017 | Father Africa | Daniel | |
| 2019 | Crypto | Brian | |
| 2022 | Detective Knight: Redemption | Ricky Conlan | |
| 2023 | God Is a Bullet | John Lee | |
| 2023 | Muzzle | Officer Reed | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Swimsuit | Scott Clark | Television movie |
| 1989 | Matinee | N/A | Television movie |
| 1989–1990 | Santa Barbara | Greg Hughes | Series regular: April 11, 1989 – February 12, 1990 |
| 1990 | Laker Girls | Bart Jeffris | Television movie |
| 1990 | They Came from Outer Space | Doug | Episode: "Undressed for Success" |
| 1991–1992 | Parker Lewis Can't Lose | Nick Comstock | Recurring role, 16 episodes |
| 1993–1994 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | John Sears | Recurring role, 13 episodes |
| 1994 | Burke's Law | Avery Drew | Episode: "Who Killed the Beauty Queen?" |
| 1994 | The 5 Mrs. Buchanans | Jesse Buchanan | Episode: Pilot |
| 1994–1995 | Lonesome Dove: The Series | Austin Peale | Recurring role, 13 episodes |
| 1995–1996 | Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years | Austin Peale | Main role, 22 episodes |
| 1995 | Robin's Hoods | Dean Cavallari | Episode: "Labors of Love" |
| 1996 | Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Ice | Det. Bert Kling | Television movie |
| 1997 | Ed McBain's 87th Precinct: Heatwave | Det. Bert Kling | Television movie |
| 1997 | 7th Heaven | Tom Harrison | Episode: "Choices" |
| 1997 | Dead Man's Gun | Sanford Hogan | Episode: "The Black Widow" |
| 1998 | Players | Jeff Taylor | Episode: "Confidence Man" |
| 1998 | Dharma & Greg | Leonard | Episode: "The Second Coming of Leonard" |
| 1998 | Earth: Final Conflict | Sloane | Episode: "Destruction" |
| 1998–1999 | Highlander: The Raven | Nick Wolfe | Main role, 22 episodes |
| 1999 | First Wave | Hatcher | Episode: "Night Falls" |
| 2000 | Hope Island | Steve Kramer | 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Da Vinci's Inquest | Tom Sprawl | Episode: "It's a Bad Corner" |
| 2000 | The Last Dance | Charlie Parker | Television movie |
| 2000 | Andromeda | Guderian | Episode: "Double Helix" |
| 2001 | The Drew Carey Show | Ron Higgins | Episode: "Bus-ted" |
| 2002 | The District | Father Patrick Debreno | Episode: "The Killing Point", "Faith" |
| 2003 | The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie | Jack | Television movie Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Children/Youth/Family Special Nominated - Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children/Youth/Family Special |
| 2003–2012 | One Tree Hill | Dan Scott | Main role (seasons 1–7, 9); Special guest star (season 8); 129 episodes |
| 2006 | Mind Games | Michael | Television movie |
| 2008 | IQ-145 | Ben Compost | Episodes: "Memories of Yesterday", "Door Number Two", "What's Our Plan?" |
| 2012 | Criminal Minds | Clark Preston | Episode: "A Thin Line" |
| 2013 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Edward Trigg | Episode: "Sheltered" |
| 2013 | Stonados | Joe Randall | Television movie |
| 2013 | Beauty and The Beast | Curt Windsor | Episode: "Father Knows Best" |
| 2014 | House of Secrets | Rick | Television movie |
| 2014 | A Daughter's Nightmare | Adam | Television movie |
| 2014–2015 | Mad Men | Ferg Donnelly | Episodes: "Severance", "Time & Life", "Lost Horizon" |
| 2015 | Bones | Graig Smith | Episode: "The Carpals in the Coy-Wolves" |
| 2015 | Love, Again | David Baker | Television movie |
| 2016 | Once Upon a Time | Gabriel/Woodcutter | Episode: "Heartless" |
| 2016 | The Stepchild | John | Television movie |
| 2016–2018 | Van Helsing | Dmitri | Main role |
| 2020 | NCIS | Porter Brandt | Episode: "In a Nutshell" |

### As a director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2003 | The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie | Television film |
| 2005–2012 | One Tree Hill | Television series; 14 episodes |
| 2011 | Atlas Shrugged: Part I | Film |
| 2017 | Van Helsing | Television series; 2 episodes |