The 18-year-old actress will play the role of Lexi and will also serve as a producer, PEOPLE confirms.
Original cast membersElizabeth Berkley (who played Jessie) andMario Lopez(who played A.C.) are also set to star in the series, which comes from30 Rockwriter andGreat Newsseries creator Tracey Wigfield, PEOPLE previously reported.
Totah, who has appeared in NBC’sChampions, as well asGleeandNo Good Nick,came out as transgender in 2018 with anessayforTimemagazine.
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“My pronouns areshe,herandhers. I identify as female, specifically as a transgender female. And my name is Josie Totah,” she wrote. She was previously known as J.J. Totah.
“This is not something that just happened. This is not a choice that I made,” Totah continued. “When I was five, long before I understood what the wordgendermeant, I would always tell my mother that I wished I were a girl. Since I could speak in full sentences, I was like, ‘Give me a dress!’ I always knew on some level that I was female.”
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“When my friends and family call me Josie, it feels like I’m being seen,” Totah said, adding, “It’s something everyone wants, to feel understood.”
The actress also said that she doesn’t believe she was placed in the “wrong body,” but that “God made me transgender.”
“I don’t feel like there was a mistake made,” she wrote. “I believe that I am transgender to help people understand differences. It allows me to gain perspective, to be more accepting of others, because I know what it feels like to know you’re not like everyone else.”
source: people.com
