Josie Totah

Josie Totah[1][2] (born August 5, 2001), also known as J. J. Totah, is an American actress. She is known for her recurring role on the Disney Channel series Jessie and her starring role on the 2013 ABC comedy series Back in the Game. Totah received critical praise for her role as Justin in the 2016 film Other People. In 2018, she starred in the short-lived NBC comedy series Champions. Totah began her career playing male roles but publicly came out as a trans woman in August 2018, changing her first name to Josie.

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

Early life

Totah was born in Sacramento, California, the third child of Suheil and Christine Totah. She has one sister and one brother, and is of Palestinian and Lebanese ancestry.[3]

Career

Totah began her acting career in 2012 when she was cast as the "Lil' Dictator" in the first production for AwesomenessTV.[4] 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.[5] 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 main 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.[6]

In 2016, Totah appeared as Justin 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.[7][8][9] 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.[10] 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.[11][12] In February 2017 Totah was cast as Michael Patel, the son of Mindy Kaling's character, Priya Patel, in the new NBC comedy Champions,[13] which was picked up to series in May 2017,[14] and aired from March 8 to May 25, 2018 before being canceled.[15] Totah was caset in a Saved by the Bell reboot that was ordered to series at NBC's streaming service, Peacock. She was cast as Lexi, a socially powerful cheerleader.[16]

Personal life

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

Filmography
Film roles
Year Film Role Notes
2016 Time Toys Boomer credited as J.J Totah
2016 Other People Justin
2017 Handsome Charles
2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming Seymour O'Reilly
2020 Magic Camp Judd
2020 Moxie Post-production
Television roles
Year Film Role Notes
2012 Kroll Show Birthday Party Kid Unknown episodes, credited as J.J Totah
2013–15 Jessie Stuart Wooten Recurring role, 7 episodes, credited as J.J Totah
2013–14 Back in the Game Michael Lovette Main role, credited as J.J Totah
2014 Nina Needs to Go! Frank Main voice role, television shorts, credited as J.J Totah
2014 The Exes Cooper Episode: "My Fair Stuart", credited as J.J Totah
2014 Sofia the First Prince Jin Voice role, 3 episodes, credited as J.J Totah
2014 New Girl Todd Episode: "Dance", credited as J.J Totah
2014 2 Broke Girls Elliot Episode: "And the Childhood Not Included", credited as J.J Totah
2015 Glee Myron Muskovitz 4 episodes, credited as J.J Totah
2016 Tween Fest Stop the Preston 4 episodes, credited as J.J Totah
2016–17 Liv and Maddie: Cali Style Skeeter Parham 3 episodes, credited as J.J Totah
2018 Champions Michael Patel Main role, credited as J.J Totah
2019 The Other Two Elijah Episode: "Chase Goes to a High School Dance", credited as J.J Totah
2019 No Good Nick Lisa Haddad 4 episodes
2020 Saved by the Bell Lexi Main role[16]

References
  1. Totah, J.J. "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. "J.J. Totah: Making good in Hollywood". Davis Enterprise. June 18, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  4. Zelle, Veronica. "J.J. Totah Talks Jessie and Back In the Game!". SweetyHigh.com. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  5. "JJ Totah - Talented Newcomer on Disney's TV Series Jessie". iaam.com. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  6. 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.
  7. "Sundance: 19 Biggest Breakthrough Performances". Variety. January 30, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  8. "The Most Inspirational Person at Sundance (So Far) Is a 14-Year-Old". InStyle. January 22, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  9. "One To Watch: J.J. Totah, The Breakout Star of 'Other People'". Papermag.com. October 4, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  10. Andreeva, Nellie (October 31, 2016). "JJ Totah To Topline NBC Comedy Produced By Adam & Naomi Scott". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
  11. Kroll, Justin (January 4, 2017). "'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Actor J.J. Totah Joins Adam DeVine in 'Magic Camp'". Variety. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
  12. "'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.
  13. 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.
  14. Andreeva, Nellie (May 13, 2017). "'Champions' Charlie Grandy/Mindy Kaling Sibling Comedy Gets NBC Series Order". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  15. Andreeva, Nellie (June 29, 2018). "'Champions' Canceled By NBC After One Season, May Explore Future Elsewhere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  16. "Peacock's Saved by the Bell' Sequel Finds Its Lead in Josie Totah". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
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