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Josie Totah

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Josie Totah
Born (2001-08-05) August 5, 2001 (age 23)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Other namesJ. J. Totah
OccupationActress
Years active2012–present

Josie Totah[1][2] (born August 5, 2001), formerly known as J. J. Totah,[3][4] is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role on the Disney Channel series Jessie and supporting role on the 2013 ABC comedy series Back in the Game. Totah received critical praise for her role in the 2016 film Other People. In 2018, she starred in the short-lived NBC comedy series Champions. She starred as Lexi in the 2020 revival of Saved by the Bell, which ran for two seasons.

Totah began her career playing male roles but publicly came out as a trans woman in August 2018, changing her first name to Josie.[5]

Early life

Totah was born in Sacramento, California, the third child of Suheil and Christine Totah.[6] She has one sister and one brother, and is of Palestinian and Lebanese ancestry.[7] In 2013, Totah and her mom (this was before she transitioned) appeared in an episode of "Family Game Night".[8]

Career

Totah began her acting career in 2012 when she was cast as the "Lil' Dictator" in the first production for AwesomenessTV.[9] Beginning in 2013, she began appearing as Stuart Wooten, a boy with a crush on series regular Zuri Ross, in the Disney Channel Original Series Jessie.[10] Totah has guest starred on the TV shows, New Girl, 2 Broke Girls, and Liv and Maddie.

Also in 2013, Totah was cast in a supporting role in the ABC comedy Back in the Game. In 2015, she was cast in 4 episodes of the sixth season Glee as the youngest member ever of the New Directions.[11]

In 2016, Totah appeared in the film Other People, and received critical praise for her role with Variety, making her one of its Sundance Breakout Stars of the year.[12][13][14] In October 2016, Deadline Hollywood reported that Totah would star in a new comedy for NBC that she helped develop where Totah was set to produce alongside executive producers Adam and Naomi Scott.[15] In 2017, she appeared in the Netflix detective comedy Handsome: A Netflix Mystery Movie and the Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming.

In January 2017, Totah joined Adam Devine in the Disney feature film Magic Camp.[16][17] In February 2017, Totah was cast as Michael Patel, the son of Mindy Kaling's character, Priya Patel, in the new NBC comedy Champions,[18] which was picked up to series in May 2017,[19] and aired from March 8 to May 25, 2018, before being canceled.[20] Totah was cast in a Saved by the Bell reboot for NBC's streaming service Peacock, where she played the character of Lexi, a socially powerful cheerleader.[21]

In August 2022, she started a podcast titled Dare We Say with Yasmine Hamady and Saved by the Bell co-star Alycia Pascual-Peña.[22]

Personal life

On August 20, 2018, Totah wrote an article published in Time magazine in which she came out as a transgender woman.[1]

Totah attended Chapman University, graduating in 2022. She was a member of a sorority.[23]

Filmography

Film roles
Year Film Role
2016 Time Toys Boomer
Other People Justin
2017 Handsome Charles
Spider-Man: Homecoming Seymour O'Reilly
2020 Magic Camp Judd
2021 Moxie CJ[24]
TBA Faces of Death TBA
Television roles
Year Film Role Notes
2012 Kroll Show Birthday Party Kid Unknown episodes
2013–2015 Jessie Stuart Wooten Recurring role, 7 episodes
2013–2014 Back in the Game Michael Lovette Supporting role
2013 Family Game Night Self Contestant
2014 Nina Needs to Go! Frank Main voice role, television shorts
The Exes Cooper Episode: "My Fair Stuart"
Sofia the First Prince Jin Voice role, 3 episodes
New Girl Todd Episode: "Dance"
2 Broke Girls Elliot Episode: "And the Childhood Not Included"
2015 Glee Myron Muskovitz 4 episodes
2016 Tween Fest Stop the Preston 4 episodes
2016–2017 Liv and Maddie: Cali Style Skeeter Parham 3 episodes
2018 Champions Michael Patel Main role
2019 The Other Two Elijah Episode: "Chase Goes to a High School Dance"
No Good Nick Lisa Haddad 4 episodes
2020 Big Mouth Natalie (voice) 3 episodes
2020–2021 Saved by the Bell Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio Main role; producer[21]
2021 iCarly Willow Episode: "iFauxpologize"
2022 Human Resources Natalie (voice) 2 episodes
Mr Mayor Titi B 3 episodes
2023 The Buccaneers Mabel Elmsworth Main role

Music videos

Year Title Artist Role
2024 "Days of Girlhood" Dylan Mulvaney Pool Extra

References

  1. ^ a b Totah, Josie. "My Name Is Josie Totah – And I'm Ready to Be Free". Time. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  2. ^ "Josie Totah (@josietotah)". Instagram. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  3. ^ Kanhai, Landon Peoples, Devyn Galindo, Sarah Cobb, Brandy Allen, Tiffany Daugherty, Seeta. "Josie Totah Didn't "Come Out" – She's Always Been Here". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved March 14, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Lisa Respers France (August 21, 2018). "'Champions' star Josie Totah comes out as transgender". CNN. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  5. ^ "How Josie Totah Became Her True Self and an LGBTQ Icon". www.eonline.com. June 21, 2022.
  6. ^ "Actress Josie Totah on finding her true identity in the Hollywood spotlight". www.today.com. October 10, 2019.
  7. ^ "J.J. Totah: Making good in Hollywood". Davis Enterprise. June 18, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  8. ^ Family Game Night Season 4 Episode 8(Full Episode), retrieved November 29, 2024
  9. ^ Zelle, Veronica (October 23, 2013). "J.J. Totah Talks Jessie and Back In the Game!". SweetyHigh.com. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  10. ^ "JJ Totah - Talented Newcomer on Disney's TV Series Jessie". iaam.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  11. ^ Kost, Ryan (March 5, 2015). "S.F. 13-year-old snags role on 'Glee' as it nears end". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  12. ^ "Sundance: 19 Biggest Breakthrough Performances". Variety. January 30, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  13. ^ "The Most Inspirational Person at Sundance (So Far) Is a 14-Year-Old". InStyle. January 22, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  14. ^ "One To Watch: J.J. Totah, The Breakout Star of 'Other People'". Papermag.com. October 4, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  15. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 31, 2016). "JJ Totah To Topline NBC Comedy Produced By Adam & Naomi Scott". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  16. ^ Kroll, Justin (January 4, 2017). "'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Actor J.J. Totah Joins Adam DeVine in 'Magic Camp'". Variety. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  17. ^ "'Other People' child actor J.J. Totah stars opposite Adam DeVine, Jeffrey Tambor in Disney's family comedy 'Magic Camp'". Asiastarz.com. January 30, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  18. ^ Hipes, Patrick (February 27, 2017). "JJ Totah Cast In Mindy Kaling's NBC Comedy Pilot; Josh Kidd Joins CW's 'Searchers'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (May 13, 2017). "'Champions' Charlie Grandy/Mindy Kaling Sibling Comedy Gets NBC Series Order". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 29, 2018). "'Champions' Canceled By NBC After One Season, May Explore Future Elsewhere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  21. ^ a b "Peacock's Saved by the Bell' Sequel Finds Its Lead in Josie Totah". The Hollywood Reporter. January 6, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  22. ^ "Dare We Say". Crooked Media. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  23. ^ Totah, Josie. "Las Culturistas". iHeart Media. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  24. ^ "Meet Moxie Star Josie Totah –The Actor, Writer And Producer Redefining Trans Representation". HuffPost UK. March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
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