Know About J.J. Totah; Transformation, Age, Parents, Glee, Birth Name

J.J. Totah, also known by her birth name Joseph Jacob Totah, is an American actress best known for her recurring role on the Disney Channel series, Jessie. She commenced her acting career in 2012. And at that time, she was a ‘he.’

Insights on J.J. Totah’s Bio: Age, Parents, Siblings, Height

The 18-years-of-age actress was born on 5 August 2001, in Sacramento, California, the United States. She is the youngest of three children of her parents, Christine Totah and Suheil Totah. Totah shares a sibling bond with her elder sister, Camille Totah and elder brother, Alex Totah.

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Standing tall at a height of 5 feet and 3 inches (1.6 meters), Totah always felt like she was a female since her childhood and she used to ask her mother to give her dresses. In the meantime, everyone around her in her town assumed her to be a gay boy. But it took some years until she revealed her sexual orientation among the public.

Totah started making YouTube videos at a young age and also participated in stage performances. For her education, she attended a convent school. As of now, the actress is studying at the film school at Dodge College, Chapman University.

Career In TV And Movies

After stepping in the acting industry with a short role on the sketch comedy, Kroll Show, in 2012, Totah landed the recurring role of Stuart Wooten on comedy series titled Jessie from 2013 to 2015. Likewise, she earned the main role of Michael Lovette on the American sitcom, Back in the Game, from 2013 to 2014. She also appeared in four episodes of musical comedy-drama Glee in 2015.

J.J. Totah as Lexi on Save by the Bell (Picture: IMDB)

Totah had a breakthrough movie role with the 2016 comedy-drama flick, Other People. Furthermore, the young actress appeared in comedy series Liv and Maddie: Cali Style as Skeeter Parham from 2016 to 2017. Totah’s other recognizable movie and television roles include Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Champions (2018), No Good Nick (2019), and Saved by the Bell (2020).

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Came Out As Transgender In 2018

Well, though J.J. Totah already knew that she was meant to be a girl from her young age, it took some time for her to put forth the truth among the paparazzi. And given her young age, the actress managed some guts to lash out the truth writing an article in the Time magazine.

In the article published by Time magazine on 20 August 2018, Totah quoted,

My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female.

She further talked about her childhood stating,

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.

J.J. Totah living as a girl following the gender transformation (Picture: J.J.’s Instagram)

In the article, Totah also revealed that she decided to follow the hormone replacement therapy after she saw the documentary series ‘I Am Jazz’ about the transgender activist Jazz Jennings when she was 14.

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Amidst the confession, the actress also revealed her new name to be Josie Totah.

Some Interesting Facts About J.J. Totah

• Totah’s father is a Palestinian and her mother is of Lebanese, Irish and Italian mixed ancestry.
• She was nominated for the 2014 Young Artist Award under Best Performance in a TV Series- Recurring Young Actor 10 and Under Category for Jessie.
• Her part in the 2016 movie Other People earned her tremendous critical praise as Variety made her one of its Sundance Breakout Stars of the Year.