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• Philip Johnson, 17-year-old senior student at Cass Technological High School Michigan, was spotted by Rosie O'Donnell while eating lunch in a downtown cafe. O'Donnell approached Johnson and asked him if he wanted to try out for a movie. He took a screen test the next day and ended with the title roll in the film America.

  Philip Johnson will now be working with the former host of The View in the film which is based on the E.R. Frank book of the same name. The film is about a 16-year-old boy who is in the foster care system. Rosie O'Donnell will be playing the therapist to the lead character and will also be executive producer to the project.

  Johnson has never acted before and originally did not think the woman who approached him was the real Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell thought Johnson had a face that belonged in a movie.

• Fast Facts

  1. Philip Johnson is a 17-year-old from Detroit, Michigan
  2. Rosie O'Donnell saw over 200 kids before she found Philip Johnson
  3. Johnson is to play the lead role in the film America
  4. The movie is about a 16-year-old caught up in the foster system
  5. Rosie O'Donnell will play a therapist in the movie
  6. O'Donnell is also the executive producersissorwizard: Rosie O'Donnell - Executive Producer/Star of 'America'

• America by E.R Frank

  America is the story of an adolescent multi-racial boy who is caught up in the system. He starts out living in a recovery center in New York after attempting to hang himself. His therapist helps him to pull his life back together. The book has won a number of awards and was a New York Times Notable Book. Rosie O'Donnell bought the film rights to America in 2002 after having E.R. Frank on her show.Playbill: Rosie O'Donnell to Star in "America" Film for Lifetime

• Related Pages on Mahalo

  Rosie O'Donnell | Suicide | Adolescent Psychoanalysis

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