Naya Rivera’s son, Josey Dorsey, is following in his late mother’s footsteps as an actor.
The soon-to-be 11-year-old, whose birthday is September 17, has taken on a role in the film The Burning Valley alongside his father, Ryan Dorsey, 43.
Josey, who paid a touching tribute to his mother on what would have been her 39th birthday in January, has his own IMDb page where the project lists him as “Boy” while Ryan is listed as “Dad.”
Written and directed by Evan Curry as his first feature film, The Burning Valley has begun filming on location in the Pennsylvania Rust Belt, taking advantage of the industrial backdrop and hometowns along the Allegheny River.
“The film is about a steelworker who loses his job when the factory announces a closure,” the director told local publication TribLive. “It sets him on a journey as he wanders through his Rust Belt city.”
Curry described the film as a “small, poetic film about deindustrialization with an emotional truth,” according to the newspaper.
Naya Rivera’s son, Josey Dorsey, is following in his late mother’s footsteps when it comes to acting – six years after her tragic death from an accidental drowning. Above, Rivera in 2019 at a luncheon in Los Angeles
The soon-to-be 11-year-old, whose birthday is September 17, has landed a role in the film The Burning Valley alongside his father, Ryan Dorsey, 43.
“My hope is to summarize the history of our region in the personal experience of one man,” he added.
Before landing this role, Josey appeared in the stage production of Seussical Jr in West Virginia, where he lives with his father.
Josey’s huge breakout opportunity comes six years after the tragic death of his mother, best known for her role as the brainy cheerleader and singer Santana Lopez on the Fox musical-comedy series Glee.
Rivera died on July 8, 2020 from an accidental drowning at Lake Piru in Ventura County, California.
The 33-year-old actress had rented a pontoon boat with her then four-year-old son.
Investigators concluded that Rivera exhausted herself trying to get her son back onto the boat after a dive before disappearing beneath the water’s surface.
After a search that lasted days, her body was recovered from the scenic reservoir on July 13, 2020.
Last year Ryan revealed that People what Josey remembered from that day. Josey remembered that it was a windy day and he didn’t want to get in the water, but his mother said, “Don’t be silly!”
Josey has his own IMDb page where The Burning Valley lists him as ‘Boy’ while father Ryan is listed as ‘Father’
The 33-year-old Glee actress died in July 2020 after heroically saving Josey during a boat ride on Lake Piru in Ventura County, California. Above, Rivera and Josey in 2019 at the Los Angeles premiere of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Rivera and Ryan were married for four years and welcomed son Josey before divorcing in 2018. Rivera and Ryan attended the UNICEF Masquerade Ball in Los Angeles in 2014.
Rivera is perhaps best known for playing the brainy cheerleader and singer Santana Lopez on the Fox musical-comedy series Glee. Above, Rivera and Michele Lea seen in a still from Glee
The boat was not at anchor and Rivera noticed it was floating. She told Josey to swim back. Josey remembered grabbing “the tanks” and pulling himself “around the boat.”
“He said the last thing she said was his name, and then she went down, and he didn’t see her anymore. It rocks my world that he had to witness her last moments,” Ryan told the outlet.
“Something he’s said over and over again is that he was trying to find a life raft, and there was a rope, but there was a big spider on the rope, and he was too scared to throw it.”
Ryan added, “I keep reassuring him, ‘Buddy, that rope wouldn’t be long enough.’ That obviously still sticks in his mind because he feels like he could have saved her. I think she just got into some brush – that or some weird undertow from the dam. It was just a strange occurrence.”
