Photo: Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images
In very sweet news, the late Naya Rivera’s son is following in his mother’s acting footsteps and making his feature film debut. Over the weekend, tabloids reported that 11-year-old Josey Hollis Dorsey was cast in The Burning Valley alongside his father, Ryan Dorsey, who’s also an actor. The film, per IMDb, follows a steelworker wandering around his Rust Belt town after his mill shuts down. There’s no release date yet.
This is Josey’s first movie credit — he made his acting debut at age 8 in a production of Seussical Jr., according to People. He’ll also reportedly be starring in Julia Fox’s upcoming coming-of-age film, Fairy Boy. A representative for his father told People that “Ryan says he is a very proud dad. Josey has been working very hard and has shown incredible growth as an actor.”
Rivera died in 2020 in an accidental drowning at Lake Piru in California while she and Josey, who was 4 at the time, were on a boat trip. Local police told reporters that Josey recalled going swimming with his mother, and then seeing her “disappear under the surface of the water” after boosting him back onto their boat.
Earlier this year, Ryan and Josey honored Rivera on what would have been her 39th birthday in videos Ryan posted to Instagram. Last month, he told “Page Six” that his son was learning to play piano as a tribute to his mother. He recalled telling his son, “Your mom — she’s always listening … You’re never going to quit as long as you’re living with me.”
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