Photo by: Earl Gibson III/Contributor
A.J. Johnson can be recognized as fly girl Sherane from the 1990s cult hit House Party before she became a life/ wellness coach, and certified personal trainer.
Johnson choreographed Sherane’s and Tisha Campbell’s character Sidney’s dance moves in the film’s memorable dance battle against Kid ‘n Play. Johnson revealed that, at the age of 58, she can still execute every move in the popular dance scene because, one, she is that good. Secondly, she is the O.G. Meg Thee Stallion when it comes to having amazingly powerful knees.
“Yes, I can still do the ‘House Party’ dance, actually better now more than ever because I didn’t know what I was doing then,” the actress explained to Jemele Hill on an episode “Jemele Hill is Unbothered” podcast. “Now I know it’s worth a million bucks if you can go down and have Meg Thee Stallion knees. So I’m like how ‘bout Megan got A.J. knees because I was down there first!” she jokingly stated.
Since the House Party film debuted, the actress aged. However, she has kept up her youthful looks by becoming a certified personal trainer.
The 1990 film, written by and based off on his award-winning student film, Reggie Hudlin grossed $26 million at the movie office, which was an incredible achievement considering it was done on a $2.5 million budget.
“We all made four grand, and what’s interesting is that once the movie came out Burger King came and asked Play and I if we would sign the rights to one of our scenes for a commercial,” the life coach shared.
In the end, the film helped launch her career and earn her a big payout from the burger franchise.
“Listen, we made more money on that commercial then we made doing the movie,” she exclaimed.
Three more House Party films have been released since 1990 — 1991, 1994, and 2000 — and most recently, basketball star LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment organization put their take on the picture.
When asked if she had received an invitation to appear in the film, Johnson answered she had not, but she would not have been interested anyhow.
“I just think it’s one thing to do sequels and prequels but to try to do remakes of certain things it’s kind of tough,” she said.
Rotimi, who has a role in the reboot, stated in September that the picture is in good hands, despite some doubts that it will be as entertaining as past editions.
“We have a similar storyline a bit, but it’s just new age. It’s a fresh spin on it for sure,” he told TMZ during a video chat. “We’re not playing the same Kid and Play, but it’s like a new-age version of them but not them, if that makes sense. It’s not their sons or anything like that.”
Tell us if you think A.J. Johnson is the O.G. Megan Thee Stallion down below!
Like TV One on Facebook and be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
