Actress
Josie Totah Has Plans for Roles beyond LGBTQ+ Characters
Josie Totah played the leading role of Mabel Emsworth in the 2023 historical series The Buccaneers. In this series, her character falls in love with…
Josie Totah played the leading role of Mabel Emsworth in the 2023 historical series The Buccaneers. In this series, her character falls in love with a woman named Honoria Marable (portrayed by Mia Threapleton).
The American actress has openly come out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and is transgender. Due to her sexuality and her portrayal of similar roles in various movies and TV shows, people have been wondering if she will take on similar roles in the future.
However, this does not seem to be the case for the actress, as she has firmly mentioned she is open to any role as she is an actress first. She attended the 2024 SCAD TVFest in Atlanta in February and mentioned her plans to work in various roles with people.
Josie Totah receives the ‘SCAD TVFest Rising Star Award’ (Source: Instagram)
In the interview, she mentioned that she is willing to take on various roles as she follows the story. She expresses her wishes to work as an actor and to uplift storytellers whom she fancies and tells stories that need to be said.
Totah wore an all-black outfit with white detailings at the event and was one of the nominees. She received the SCAD TVFest Rising Star Award at the event.
This enthusiastic actress has been working in the entertainment industry since 2012 but recently gained prominence due to her leading roles in several movies and TV shows. Her role in the 2021 movie Moxie was well-received by critics and the public.
Josie Totah came out as a transgender person in 2018
Although many suspected Totah to be gay as she hadn’t transitioned yet and appeared in many productions as J.J. Totah. She made herself publicly known as a trans-woman in 2018, exclusively through the Time Magazine.
She started her interview by stating she was always grateful to get roles in great projects like The Champions. However, she always felt she let herself shoved into a box as J.J. Totah, a gay boy.
Ever since Totah was a child, the people around her always viewed her as gay, as she was a bit different from others. Not only that, even the entertainment industry gave her that image due to the roles she played.
She also revealed that many reporters asked her what it was like being a gay young man, and many were already quick to assume the same. The actress also clarified being a member of the LGBTQ+ community before, but it only led to more people thinking she’s gay.
Therefore, the actress made a very bold decision to be free and let everyone know her natural sexuality. Despite what she might be hearing, support, or hate, she outed herself as Josie Totah, a trans-woman.
Totah identifies as a female and uses the pronoun she/her/hers. In a very heartfelt letter, she also says this is not something that happened out of the blue nor the choice she made.
The actress found out about her sexuality at the young age of 14 while watching the series I Am Jazz with her mother. In the middle of the show, she revealed to have yelled at her mother, saying this is what I have to do (while watching Jazz Jennings going through a medical transition).
This revelation might not have been easy, but it sure helped that her mother was super supportive from the start. Therefore, at 14, she started taking hormone blockers.
During the initial stages of transition, Totah was in constant fear of society as well as the effect of male hormones on her body. She was also scared about the identity documents and how people would see her.
However, the actress has had many reassurances in her life. She felt delighted hearing Josie from friends and family, and it was a process of healing and better understanding herself.
She wraps up her heartfelt note, stating, “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 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.”
Josie Totah’s advancements in roles
Totah played the role of a boy in several movies and TV shows until 2018, including Glee, Champions, and Spider-Man: Homecoming. After she came out to the world in 2018, her first project was the American comedy series The Other Two, in which she played the role of Elijah.
Josie Totah poses for Galore (Source: Instagram)
In the same year, she played the role of Lisa Haddad in four episodes of the American comedy No Good Nick. The actress started playing female roles actively and got her first leading role in the sitcom Saved by the Bell, where she portrayed the role of Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio.
She went on to appear as CJ in the 2021 movie Moxie and played minor roles in some series, like Human Resources and Mr Mayor. Her most recent work is in the historical series The Buccaneers, which has increased her fame to the next level.
Totah has active plans to stay in the entertainment industry and is also set to appear in the upcoming horror movie Faces of Death. We hope she gets to play more dynamic roles in the future as she hopes to get.