Samuel Johnson is a hero. Seriously.
No, not just because of his flawless portrayal of Mollie Meldrum in his latest acting role. Not even because he unicycled across our country to raise money for his sick sister. And not even because he has raised $2.4M for the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
Samuel Johnson is a hero because he is fighting for all of us. His recent announcement to his social media community at Love Your Sister that he is retiring from acting has hit us right in the feels. Not because we’ll miss his cheeky smile on the TV but because of his passion and earnest commitment to his – OUR – cause.
In his incredibly powerful statement he says
“I cannot play pretend on telly while our families are falling. Cancer is the last true riddle of our time (not of our doing) and I wanna be part of the push to solve it once and for all – part of the new ‘moonshot’.
And I do have a plan. Actually, it’s not a plan at all. It’s a war. I’m going all out. I’m building an army to make science and research more relevant again and I’ll stop at nothing.”
In a time where almost every single one of us has been touched by cancer in one way or another, his announcement is lighting fire in people everywhere. I personally have lost FIVE of my family members to that bastard [that’s what I call cancer because it is a f*cking bastard] and every one of them have left a hole in my life. I do my bit to raise what I can to help fund research but the power that high-profile advocates like Samuel has is so valuable to the fund raising circuit. The fact that he recognises that and uses it is what makes him a hero in my eyes.
To our amazing LYS Village,I think this is the best place for me to announce my retirement from acting, after nearly…
Posted by Love Your Sister on Thursday, 25 February 2016
Sam plans to raise $10M in total and I reckon he can totally do it. He’s brought in some mates to help along. Tim Minchin, Meshel Laurie, Danny Green, Shaun Tan, Nick Riewoldt, Tom Gleeson, Denise Scott, Michael Leunig, Deb Mailman, Michael Gudinski, Sam Mac and Shaun Micallef have joined the fight so far. He could use some more troops though and you don’t need a big name, just a big heart.
