She gave up competitive skating in 1977 to turn professional and join the Ice Capades, and subsequently began an acting career, making her film debut in Ice Castles, in which she portrayed Alexis "Lexie" Winston, a figure skater who is blinded by a blood clot in her brain.

The film, a romantic drama co-starring Robby Benson, was a minor success in December 1978, grossing $18 million in the US.

[citation needed] Johnson was subsequently cast in the lead role of the Disney horror drama The Watcher in the Woods.

Also in 1981, Johnson had a minor supporting role as Bibi Dahl in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only .

[7] Upon medical intervention, Johnson learned that the stroke had been brought on by a patent foramen ovale, a congenital heart defect that had gone undiagnosed.