Johnson was born John Johnson in New Orleans, Louisiana. His films include The Bourne Ultimatum, Saving Private Ryan, Guillermo del Toro's adaptation of Hellboy, and the 2005 Ray Bradbury film A Sound of Thunder. 1999 was a break out year for Johnson first he played tomb raider Daniels in The Mummy, then the bungling, dim witted assassin Bruno Decker in Do Not Disturb opposite William Hurt and Michael Chiklis. He appeared as smug business tycoon Henry van Statten in "Dalek", an episode of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, adding to his list of TV guest spots which include Spooks, Foyle's War, "Celeb" and "Nash Bridges" He played the role of Louis Nacke II, a passenger, in United 93.
In April of 2007 Corey made his Broadway debut as Nixon's Chief of Staff Jack Brennan in Frost/Nixon.While appearing on Broadway, Corey also filmed On The Hook with Elliot Gould and Frank Langella. Corey is currently filming The Code in Sofia, Bulgaria with Morgan Freeman. Johnson worked with Freeman previously in The Contract (2006), along with John Cusack. In 2004, Johnson was nominated for a Best Actor award at the British TMA's for his portrayal of Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge". He has also provided voice acting for several video games including the video game tie-in with the movie Reign of Fire.