Jake Johnson has his mother’s intuition to thank for saving his life.
The “Recent Girl” alum, 45, revealed on an episode of the “Dope as Usual” podcast that he narrowly missed a 1988 school shooting after his mom barred him from moving into.
Johnson attended Hubbard Woods Elementary School in Winnetka, Illinois, and on May 20, 1988, a lady named Laurie Dann walked right into a second grade class and commenced firing shots.
“I used to be sitting next to my mom, I used to be in fourth grade,” Johnson said.
“Out of nowhere, my mother turns to me and goes, ‘You’re not going to school tomorrow.’”
The “Mummy” star explained that he was set to go on a field trip that next day and begged her to let him go since he wouldn’t physically be at school.
He noted that she had a “gut feeling” that she would “never” see him again if he attended that day.
Johnson recalled how Dann, who reportedly suffered from mental illness, “walked into the school wearing a robe and nothing underneath” and went into his class.
“The room was empty, she walked through, walked down the hall, walked into one other room, shot seven kids, killed considered one of them. True story,” he said.
“I used to get in a variety of trouble as a child and I used to all the time talk so the teacher pushed me within the far right corner so I sat away from the opposite kids and I used to be right by the door,” he said.
Johnson further said: “My mom cannot explain why she didn’t want me to go to school… I don’t get it.”
Surely, Dann shot six students during her murder spree and wound up killing one 8-year-old boy named Nicholas Corwin.
Dann died by suicide that very same day.
Johnson’s next project is his directorial debut titled “Self Reliance.” The comedy thriller recently premiered on Hulu after a limited screening on the 2023 South by Southwest film festival.
The film stars himself, alongside Anna Kendrick, Andy Samberg, Natalie Morales and Christopher Lloyd. The story follows a person who receives an invitation to attain $1 million by being a component of a reality TV game on the dark web.
Of his alternative to dip his toes into the directing world, the “Minx” star told Above The Line earlier this week: “I believe I desired to direct, because I’d spent so a few years on different sets with guest directors on TV, and also you see how so many various people run a set.”
“The best way the director treats people — from the crew to the forged to everybody — it resonates through everybody,” he said.
Johnson added: “Nearly all of my job is being under anyone else’s tone by way of being on set, and there’s a way that I wish to work and there’s a joy and a lightness. I like jokes. I like people having fun with being at work, and so I desired to do something where I could try to regulate that tone and see the way it felt.”