# Josie Totah
**Josie Totah** (born 2001) is an American actress, writer, and producer known for playing Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio on the Peacock revival of *[Saved by the Bell](https://www.edgepedia.org/saved-by-the-bell-2020-tv-series)*, Mabel Elmsworth on Apple TV+'s *The Buccaneers*, and for coming out as a transgender woman in a widely read 2018 essay in *Time* magazine.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) • [2](https://time.com/5371387/josie-totah-transgender/) She began her career as a child actor playing male roles under the name J.J. Totah before publicly transitioning her name and identity in August 2018.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 2001, Sacramento, California, USA[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/josie-totah-949293) |
| Coming out | Came out as a transgender woman in a *Time* essay on August 20, 2018, changing her first name from Joseph to Josie; pronouns she/her[2](https://time.com/5371387/josie-totah-transgender/) • [4](https://www.hrc.org/news/actor-josie-totah-comes-out-as-transgender) |
| Breakthrough role | Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio on *Saved by the Bell* (Peacock, 2020–2021, 20 episodes), also a producer on the series; nominated for a Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) |
| Other lead roles | Michael Patel on NBC's *Champions* (2018); Mabel Elmsworth on Apple TV+'s *The Buccaneers* (2023–2025, 16 episodes)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) |
| Upcoming | Leads the television adaptation of *Carrie* as Tina, an 8-episode series slated for 2026 on Prime Video[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) • [5](https://goggler.my/carrie-josie-totah-alison-thornton-interview/) |
| Advocacy | Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award (2018) and Upstander Award (2019); celebrity ambassador for GLAAD and member of the GLSEN Game Change Council[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) |
## Early life and career beginnings
Totah was born in 2001 in [Sacramento, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/sacramento-california), and began acting in local productions in [Davis, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/davis-california), starting a professional career in 2010 with an appearance in an "Awesomeness TV" production.[3](https://www.fandango.com/people/josie-totah-949293) Film Independent's profile of her among its "New Wave Actors" notes that she began performing at age ten at the Hollywood Improv before moving into television.[6](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/josie-totah-new-wave-actors/)
Her first substantial television role was a recurring part as Stuart Wooten on the [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) series *[Jessie](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessie-2011-tv-series)* (2011–2015), for which she received a 2014 [Young Artist Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-artist-award) nomination.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) In 2015 she played Myron Muskovitz, a tyrannical child prodigy, in the sixth and final season of Fox's *Glee*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
## Film work
Totah's film breakthrough came with Chris Kelly's debut feature *Other People* (2016), opposite [Jesse Plemons](https://www.edgepedia.org/jesse-plemons) and [Molly Shannon](https://www.edgepedia.org/molly-shannon). The film premiered at the 2016 [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival), where her performance drew positive reviews and she was named to *Variety*'s 2016 Breakout Stars portfolio and *InStyle* magazine's 10 Rising Stars to Watch.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) She appeared as Seymour in Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios' *Spider-Man: Homecoming* (2017), starred with Adam Devine in Disney's *Magic Camp*, and played CJ in Amy Poehler's Netflix film *Moxie* (2021), based on Jennifer Mathieu's novel about girls who start a feminist revolution at their high school.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
## Saved by the Bell and producing
The defining role of Totah's career so far is Lexi Haddad-DeFabrizio, the most popular girl at Bayside High, in the *Saved by the Bell* revival created by Emmy-winning writer Tracey Wigfield for Peacock.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) Wigfield wrote the role with Totah in mind, and like Totah, Lexi is a transgender female.[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/worth-and-wisdom) Totah made her participation conditional on a producer role, saying that the only way to tell the story accurately was to have creative involvement behind the scenes.[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/worth-and-wisdom)
**Authentic representation.** Totah has said she worked to make Lexi's stories authentic while keeping her gender identity only one small part of who the character is.[8](https://www.avclub.com/josie-totah-worked-to-get-authentic-trans-stories-on-th-1845757587) In the show's first season, Lexi moves beyond mean-girl tropes to become an ally after realizing how classism and racism affect other students at Bayside High, a storyline Totah said she was proud of.[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/worth-and-wisdom) Her performance earned a Critics Choice Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, and the series received the GLAAD Media Award for Best Comedy Series in 2022.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
## The Buccaneers and recent work
Totah played Mabel Elmsworth, a co-lead role, in *The Buccaneers*, Apple TV+'s period drama based on [Edith Wharton](https://www.edgepedia.org/edith-wharton)'s unfinished novel, created by Katherine Jakeways and directed by BAFTA winner Susanna White; the series ran for 16 episodes across 2023–2025.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) • [9](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-buccaneers/cast-crew/) She has also voiced Natalie on Netflix's animated series *Big Mouth*, in an Emmy-nominated episode, and appeared in series including *The Other Two*, *Mr. Mayor*, and *iCarly*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) • [10](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621237053)
Her upcoming projects include leading the television adaptation of *Carrie* as Tina, an eight-episode series on Prime Video, and starring in [Legendary Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/legendary-entertainment)'s feature film *Faces of Death* directed by Daniel Goldhaber.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/) In a 2025 *Teen Vogue* interview, Totah said she influenced her characters on both *The Buccaneers* and *Carrie*, describing herself as always pitching ideas to her collaborators.[11](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/josie-totah-new-hollywood-spotlight-interview)
## Coming out and advocacy
In August 2018, Totah published a first-person essay in *Time* titled "My Name Is Josie Totah — And I'm Ready to Be Free," announcing that she is a transgender woman and changing her first name from Joseph to Josie.[2](https://time.com/5371387/josie-totah-transgender/) In the essay she wrote that she had been treated in interviews and public appearances as "a young gay man," a framing she said never matched how she thought of herself, and that watching the docuseries *I Am Jazz* about transgender teen [Jazz Jennings](https://www.edgepedia.org/jazz-jennings) at age 14 crystallized her understanding of her identity and led her to begin hormone treatment.[2](https://time.com/5371387/josie-totah-transgender/) The Human Rights Campaign, which had honored her with its Visibility Award that year, covered the announcement, quoting her statement: "My pronouns are she, her and hers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah."[4](https://www.hrc.org/news/actor-josie-totah-comes-out-as-transgender)
Totah has since advocated for transgender performers playing transgender roles. In a 2021 interview around the release of *Moxie*, she said that award shows should stop praising cisgender male actors for playing transgender women and that "it is extremely imperative that trans people get to play trans roles."[12](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/moxie-josie-totah-trans-b1812243.html) A *Time* retrospective on the series *Pose* counted her among the trans actors who, in the years after that show's 2018 debut, began appearing in complex roles that neither avoid nor fixate on their characters' gender identity.[13](https://time.com/6053227/pose-finale/) She was recognized by the [Human Rights Campaign](https://www.edgepedia.org/human-rights-campaign) with the Upstander Award in 2019, named to *Out* magazine's OUT100, and serves as a celebrity ambassador for GLAAD and a member of the GLSEN Game Change Council.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
## Writing
Alongside acting, Totah works as a television and film writer. At age 15 she sold her first television pitch, a single-camera sitcom with the working title *Aunt Nancy* based on her real-life aunt, to [Universal Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/universal-television)/NBC, with herself set to produce alongside Adam and [Naomi Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/naomi-scott) and to star; the project is listed by IMDb as in pre-production.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
## References
1. [Josie Totah, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4796309/)
2. [My Name Is Josie Totah — And I'm Ready to Be Free, Time (August 20, 2018)](https://time.com/5371387/josie-totah-transgender/)
3. [Josie Totah List of All Movies & Filmography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/josie-totah-949293)
4. [Actor Josie Totah Comes Out as Transgender, Human Rights Campaign (August 20, 2018)](https://www.hrc.org/news/actor-josie-totah-comes-out-as-transgender)
5. [Carrie: We speak to Josie Totah and Alison Thornton, Goggler](https://goggler.my/carrie-josie-totah-alison-thornton-interview/)
6. [Josie Totah, Film Independent](https://www.filmindependent.org/people/josie-totah-new-wave-actors/)
7. [Worth and Wisdom, Television Academy (October 28, 2021)](https://www.televisionacademy.com/features/news/mix/worth-and-wisdom)
8. [Josie Totah worked to get authentic trans stories on the new Saved By The Bell, The A.V. Club (December 1, 2020)](https://www.avclub.com/josie-totah-worked-to-get-authentic-trans-stories-on-th-1845757587)
9. [The Buccaneers Cast and Crew, Apple TV Press](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/the-buccaneers/cast-crew/)
10. [Josie Totah, Apple Snapshot](https://snapshot.apple.com/us/person/6621237053)
11. [How Josie Totah Influenced Her Buccaneers and Carrie Characters, Teen Vogue (November 13, 2025)](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/josie-totah-new-hollywood-spotlight-interview)
12. [Moxie star Josie Totah says cisgender men shouldn't be awarded for 'putting on a wig' and playing trans parts, The Independent (March 4, 2021)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/moxie-josie-totah-trans-b1812243.html)
13. [Pose Was More Than Just a TV Show. It Changed the Culture, Time](https://time.com/6053227/pose-finale/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames T*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license