Josie Totah Biography
Josie Totah (Josie Jay Totah; formerly known as J.J. Totah)is an American transgender actress born on 5th August 2001 in Sacramento, California, U.S. She publicly came out as a transgender in August 2018. She is popular for her recurring role on the Disney Channel series Jessie and her starring role on the 2013 ABC comedy series Back in the Game.
Jossie began performing with the Davis Musical Theatre Company before starting kindergarten. At the age of 6 she began making YouTube videos. She went on to book regional and community theater productions of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and “Seussical’ in and around her hometown of Davis.
She made her acting debut in the first production for Awesomeness TV, since then she has appeared in hit shows like Broke Girls, The Exes and New Girl. In all the shows she was credited as J.J. Totah. She had a recurring role as Stuart Wooten in Disney’s Jessie (2013 – 2015)
Jessie appeared on 4 seasons episodes of Glee as Myron Muskovitz. She also appeared in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and in 2018’s Other People.
Josie Totah PhotoJosie Totah Age
Josie was born on 5th August 2001 in Sacramento, California, U.S. (17 years old as of 2018)
Josie Totah Birth name | Josie Totah Real Name
Josie Jay Totah
Josie Totah Family
Josie was born to Suheil Totah and Christine Totah. She has two siblings a brother and a sister.
Josie Totah Ethnicity
J.J. Totah is of Palestinian and Lebanese ancestry.
Josie Totah Glee
Josie plays the role of Myron, the nephew of Superintendent Bob Harris and one of the newest members of the New Directions, on Glee. She auditioned for Glee with “Born This Way” by Lady Gaga and “All That Jazz” from Chicago.
Josie Totah Disney Channel
Josie Totah has appeared in Disney channel playing the roles of O’Reilly in Spider-Man: Homecoming, Stuart Wooten in Jessie, Prince Jin in Sofia the First, and Sketter Parham in Liv & Maddie. Prior to her coming out as transgender she portrayed the role of Judd in Magic Camp.
Josie Totah Spiderman: Homecoming
J.J. Totah played the role of Seymour O’Reilly in Spiderman: Homecoming. Seymour is a student at Midtown School of Science and Technology. where she is good friends with Liz Toomes and her little group of friends.
During his physical education class, he and his friends discussed about the Avengers. When Toomes mentioned her interest in Spider-Man, O’Reilly asked her whether she would still like him if he happened to be seriously burned, to which Toomes replied that she would. O’Reilly was then utterly surprised when Ned Leeds announced that Peter Parker knew Spider-Man.
O’Reilly went to the homecoming dance, where he spent some time remaining with his friends Toomes, Jason Ionello and Betty Ross.
Josie Totah Movie and TV Shows
Josie Totah Movie
- TBA Magic Camp
- 2017 Handsome
- 2017 Spider-Man: Homecoming
- 2016 Time Toys
- 2016 Other People
Josie Totah TV Shows
- 2018 Champions Michael Patel
- 2016–17 Liv and Maddie: Cali Style Skeeter Parham
- 2016 Tween Fest Stop the Preston
- 2015 Glee Myron Muskovitz
- 2014 The Exes Cooper
- 2014 2 Broke Girls Elliot
- 2014 Nina Needs to Go! Frank
- 2014 Sofia the First Prince Jin
- 2014 New Girl Todd
- 2013–15 Jessie Stuart Wooten
- 2013–14 Back in the Game Michael Lovette
- 2012 Kroll Show Birthday Party Kid
Josie Totah Instagram
Josie Totah Facebook
Josie Totah Twitter
Josie Totah Transgender
My Name Is Josie Totah — And I’m Ready to Be Free
Acting has always been my passion. I’m grateful for roles I’ve gotten to play on shows like Champions, and I know I’m lucky to be able to do what I love. But I also feel like I let myself be shoved into a box: “J.J. Totah, gay boy.”
When I was really young, growing up in a small town in Northern California, people would just assume I was gay. On the playground, I was the type of kid who wanted to sing with the girls, not play soccer with the boys. Then I found myself playing that role once I got into the entertainment industry, and people kept assuming my identity. Numerous reporters have asked me in interviews how it feels to be a young gay man. I was even introduced that way before receiving an award from an LGBTQ+ rights organization. I understand that they didn’t really know better. I almost felt like I owed it to everybody to be that gay boy. But that has never been the way I think of myself.
The docuseries was about another 14-year-old, Jazz Jennings, a transgender girl who was going through a medical transition. As I learned more information about hormone replacement therapy, I knew that this was what I had to do. I looked over at her in the middle of the show and said, “This is me. I’m transgender. And I need to go through this.” My mother, who is immensely supportive and gracious, said, “Okay, let’s do it.” Three days later I was meeting with my pediatrician, who referred me to a specialist, who put me on a hormone blocker. From that point on, I hit the ground running.
Like many trans people, I developed serious anxiety as I hid who I was. In some ways, I felt like I was lying by letting people believe I was that gay boy. I also couldn’t be myself. I hid the girls’ clothes I really wanted to wear under sweatpants and sweatshirts. And I had an enormous fear of male puberty. Once I got on the hormone blocker, which basically stopped my testosterone, that part changed. I wasn’t waking up every day and panicking. “Is there hair on my face? Is my voice getting deeper?” Those changes are very hard, if not impossible, to reverse. And I knew that I was giving myself what I needed, that I didn’t have to be afraid of that anymore.
There are still things that scare me. Identity documents can be hard for transgender people to change. I’m afraid of that moment when someone looks at the ID, looks at the photo, looks at the gender marker – looks at you. I never want to feel like I’m not allowed in somewhere because of who I am. I’m scared that being transgender is going to limit me in that way. And I’m scared that I’ll be judged, rejected, made uncomfortable, that people will look at me differently.
But when my friends and family call me Josie, it feels like I’m being seen. It’s something everyone wants, to feel understood. And, as a semi-religious person who went to Catholic school, I have come to believe that God made me transgender. I don’t feel like I was put in the wrong body. I don’t feel like there was a mistake made. I believe that I am transgender to help people understand differences. It allows me to gain perspective, to be more accepting of others, because I know what it feels like to know you’re not like everyone else.
When I was on the show Glee, I’d stand back and watch Lea Michele. She was fabulous. And it was fun to see her and the other girls wear dresses and put on lavish musical numbers. But it was also hard, because I wanted that to be me. It’s a feeling I’ve experienced in nearly every project I’ve worked on.
This week, I’m going off to college. I’m also going to continue my acting career, and I am so excited to do both things as myself. I plan to play roles I haven’t had the opportunity to play. And I can only imagine how much more fun it’s going to be to play someone who shares my identity, rather than having to contort myself to play a boy. I’m going to gun for those roles, be it a transgender female or a cisgender female. Because it’s a clean slate — and a new world.
Source: time.com