Molly Meldrum hopes Samuel Johnson wins the Gold Logie and returns to acting

MOLLY Meldrum is hoping a Gold Logie is enough to tempt actor Samuel Johnson out of retirement, with the double act going together to the TV gala.

Molly Meldrum and Samuel Johnson, who has been nominated for a Gold Logie for playing him in Molly. Picture: Andrew Tauber

MOLLY Meldrum is hoping the Logies will inspire Samuel Johnson to return to acting.

Johnson is up for the Gold Logie at tonight’s awards — a remarkable feat after being on air for just four hours in the Molly miniseries.

The ‘retired’ actor is also nominated for Best Actor and Most Outstanding Actor while the Channel 7 ratings hit is up for Best Drama and Most Outstanding Miniseries.

Meldrum and Johnson will be seated at the same table at the Logies, with the music guru admitting to a major dose of nerves.

LOGIES 2017: All the nominees

Gold Logie nominee Samuel Johnson quit acting after his acclaimed performance in Seven telemovie, Molly. Picture: Ben Timony

“I really want Sam to win at least one award for his acting,” Meldrum said. “He’s a bloody good actor. It’d be lovely if he wins the Gold but he can’t be disappointed if he doesn’t, it’s impossible to pick that. Just being nominated for so many awards says so much about how popular he is and how much people enjoy his acting. It also says a lot about how people support him through his charity work for his sister, he’s done so well for Connie.”

Johnson has spent years raising money and awareness for breast cancer — his sister Connie recently stopped treatment for the disease.

If Johnson can harness some of the social media support he has directed towards his charitable foundation, Love Your Sister, he should win the Gold Logie. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Johnson’s family campaigned for him on the charity’s Facebook page (with over 380,000 followers) as a way for him to continue to promote what has become his life’s work.

After the success of Molly, and the heavy promotion for the miniseries, Johnson retired from acting to focus on charity — and voice over work to pay the bills.

“He’s got a lot of things going on, obviously Connie is very sick and he’s very upset over the death of his friend (Karen Ristevski) but he’s so good at acting,” Meldrum said.

While Molly was one of last year’s most-watched TV local shows (and spawned two hit soundtrack albums) the subject of the docudrama has still yet to watch the whole thing in full.

“I’ve seen bits and pieces and obviously I saw how amazing Sam was, but I hate seeing myself on TV, even if it’s someone else playing me — and doing it better than I do.”

Molly’s brilliant career

Originally published as Molly Meldrum hopes Samuel Johnson wins the Gold Logie and returns to acting