After years of devoting her life to her family, and to nursing, Suzanne Johnson listened to her heart and made the leap from being a mother and nurse to following her dream of an acting career. She began her journey by enrolling in acting classes and combing the internet for casting announcements, gamely submitting herself for every part she thought would be a good fit. In her first feature film, Empty Space, a powerful drama, she was cast as a waitress in a rural diner trapped in an abusive relationship. After that role, she was hooked. A series of parts followed in several shorts, student films and features. Suzanne played a range of roles, including a mother to a dying girl in a faith-based film, the love interest of a sheriff in a rural town, a hippie psychic, and a Southern socialite with a poker fetish. It was a solid start to her film career but she wanted more. What would be the next big step? Working with her acting coach, Damon Shalit, they brainstormed how she could further her career. They decided that one great course of action would be to not only act but to produce a film in which she could star. Damon suggested she read some screenplays, and also recommended Joshua Henkin’s best-selling novel The World Without You. She immediately connected with the powerful material, and the character of grieving mother Marilyn deeply resonated with her. Apart from great similarities in their personalities, Marilyn’s trajectory as a mother who loses her only son to a terrorist act was an emotional journey that Suzanne felt compelled to fulfill.
