TikTok star Josh Nalley has finally landed his dream role as a dead body on CSI: Vegas, after he sought to get the attention of Hollywood bigwigs in a less-than-conventional way.
For the past year, TikTok star Nalley – aka @living_dead_josh – has been campaigning to be cast as an “un-alive person” on a “movie or television show” by posting daily TikTok videos lying motionless in various scenes across Kentucky that have totalled more than 4 million likes.
Now, he’s finally got his big break on one of television’s hottest series.
“I got an email from CBS that said they’d seen me on TikTok and wanted to offer me the part,” Nalley told the Louisville Courier Journal. “At first I didn’t believe it, but they flew me out to California. It turned out that Mario Van Peebles was the director for that episode so besides getting cast in the show, I also got to meet him, which was great.”
Nalley also announced the news on his TikTok, where he thanked his legion of dedicated followers for following him on his journey.
“I want to thank CSI: Vegas for casting me,” Nalley said in a TikTok video following the exciting news. “It’s truly an amazing experience.”
“For the past year ya’ll have been commenting and liking and sharing and following me,” Nalley added. “Without ya’ll, I couldn’t have done it.”
Love Film & TV?
Get the latest Film & TV news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
@living_dead_josh Tune in September 29th for the season 2 premiere of CSI:VEGAS #foryoupage #fyp #csivegas #thankyou
Nalley went on to explain that he decided to kick off his bizarre petition to be cast as a dead body after he saw TikToker post about hot sauce and subsequently catch the eye of various hot-sauce companies.
“I thought if I was creative enough playing an un-alive person, I could get the attention of a television show or a movie production company,” he told the newspaper, adding, “and how about that, it worked.”
While he may have landed his first big role, fans can rest easy knowing that Nalley will be continuing with his daily “dead body” videos, adding that he’s already been asked to “play dead” in a music video as well as some low-budget flicks.
For more on this topic, follow the Film & TV Observer.
