The actor Josie Totah has transitioned from child and teen television roles to a high-profile part in the new horror remake Faces of Death. In the film she appears opposite Charli XCX, Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery and Jermaine Fowler, joining an ensemble that places a digital content moderator at the story’s center. The plot follows a woman who manages a YouTube-like platform and discovers an online group seemingly recreating grisly scenes from the original 1978 movie; the film is scheduled to be released in the US on 10 April.
Totah first attracted attention as a young performer on television and has steadily built a varied résumé. She began acting in 2012 and spent two seasons on the Disney Channel series Jessie playing the character Stuart Wooten. Since then she has taken roles across genres and formats, from voice work to sitcoms and feature films, demonstrating a flexibility that has opened doors to both mainstream and niche projects.
The Faces of Death role and what it means
Being cast in Faces of Death marks a notable turn in Totah’s career: it places her in a darker, more adult genre than many of her earlier projects. The film’s premise relies on the tension between online communities and real-world consequences, with the protagonist’s job as a platform moderator forcing her to confront disturbing content that echoes a cult classic. This contemporary framing—where a moderator navigates content policy, community standards and emergent threats—ties into broader conversations about the power of digital platforms, content moderation, and how media remakes can reinterpret original material for a new audience.
From child actor to varied screen roles
Josie Totah has accumulated credits across television and film that illustrate career growth and reinvention. After her stint on Jessie, she appeared in family and teen fare such as Sofia the First, guest roles on New Girl and 2 Broke Girls, and in ensemble or recurring parts on series including Glee and the sitcom Champions. Her film and streaming work spans titles like Moxie and a supporting part in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and she has contributed voice and live-action roles to animated and adult-skewing series such as Big Mouth and Human Resources. More recently she appeared in the 2026 rebooted run of Saved by the Bell as Lexi and took lead and supporting roles that reflect a move into more mature storytelling.
Early influences and career choices
Totah’s path shows how early exposure to entertainment industries can lead to a range of opportunities. Her work on family-oriented shows gave her a public profile that later helped secure adult parts, while voice acting and comedy roles demonstrated a breadth that casting directors often seek. By embracing different media formats—broadcast TV, streaming, film and animation—she has maintained visibility and diversified her artistic output.
Personal journey: identity, visibility and advocacy
Off screen, Totah has been candid about her gender identity and the process of coming out. She has said she understood a feminine identity from a very young age, recalling childhood feelings and wishes to present as female long before she knew specific terminology. A televised docuseries, I Am Jazz, helped clarify those feelings for her, and she made a public statement about her transition in an essay for TIME magazine in August 2018, announcing her decision to live openly as a transgender woman. That essay described fears about acceptance, particularly from audiences familiar with her earlier work, and a deliberate step toward living authentically.
Perceptions, assumptions and the need for support
Before her public transition, many observers assumed she was a gay male performer; Totah has reflected on how that assumption felt limiting. She has explained that allowing others to label her as something other than a transgender woman boxed her into roles and perceptions that did not reflect her inner life. The change to living publicly as Josie, she says, brought a sense of recognition from friends and family and helped align her public persona with her private identity. That alignment has also informed her advocacy work.
Advocacy and speaking out
Totah has used public platforms to speak about bullying, harassment and the need for allyship. In interviews she has urged people to intervene when they see mistreatment and to support young people who are vulnerable. She brought those themes to the Human Rights Campaign’s Time to THRIVE conference in 2019, emphasizing that civil rights work continues and that there are both dangers and sources of love and support in the world. Her voice contributes to a broader movement seeking safer environments for LGBTQ+ youth and better representation across media.
As Faces of Death reaches audiences, Totah’s presence in the film will be watched not just for performance but for what her casting represents: a trans actor moving into leading roles in mainstream genre cinema while remaining outspoken about identity and inclusion. Her trajectory—from Disney series regular to a lead in a high-profile remake and an active public advocate—reflects both professional evolution and an ongoing commitment to visibility and change.