Man With No Acting Experience Lands 'CSI' Role After Playing Dead For 321 Days

Jun 07, 2023

A quote by John Wooden goes, “Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.” This means that one has to consistently chase their dreams despite the odds and never doubt their ability to achieve them. However, the moment an iota of doubt creeps in, it will be hard to keep the dream alive. Most people who found success consistently pursued their dreams and never gave up on them. There are multiple stories of people continually doubling their efforts in their quest to attain success. The thing about these stories is that the next one comes with a higher level of inspiration. 

One story that fits the above description is that of Josh Nalley, a Kentucky man who finally got an acting role after going to unimaginable lengths to achieve it. Nalley is an avid TikToker, but his posts are rather unusual. Since October 2021, Nalley has posted videos of himself playing dead. He continued with the act every day and had gone 321 days before his dream came true in 2022. Nalley got the recognition he craved and was cast in a Nov. 3, 2022 episode of “CSI: Vegas.” 

Nalley’s story is unusual, but his consistency is admirable as he never stopped believing that he would get his dream job despite going many days without getting a call. After achieving his dream of acting as a dead person in a popular series, Nalley hopes to grow from there and attain greater heights. Read on to find out more about Nalley, what inspired him, and what he hopes to achieve in the future. 

Josh Nalley’s unusual skill of playing dead has earned him his ticket to fame! The 42-year-old Kentucky native consistently uploaded new videos of himself playing dead on his TikTok account for 321 days. “CSI: Vegas” producers spotted Nalley’s video clips and offered him a part in a Nov. 3, 2022 episode of the series. Nalley’s role in the episode? You guessed right! He played a dead man. 

In a chat with Courier Journal, Nalley revealed that CBS emailed him and said they had seen his videos and wanted to offer him the part. He added: 

“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’s viral videos always had captions detailing how long he had been playing dead until he got a role in a movie or TV show as an “un-alive body.” In a chat with the Washington Post, he said he got the idea to play dead after spotting a woman who posted videos about hot sauce daily until companies reached out to her. He said: 

“I figured that was the easiest way that I could actually get onto a TV show or movie, you know, without actually having to audition or move out of Kentucky.”

While filming for the “CSI: Vegas” episode, Nalley made a good impression, as showrunner Jason Tracey revealed to Entertainment Weekly: 

“Rarely do we find an actor as well prepared to play a corpse as Josh. It was a pleasure watching him work.”

Having achieved his dreams, Nalley hopes to take a bigger step and hopefully get a speaking role. Time will tell if he eventually does so. 

Do you feel inspired by Josh Nalley’s story? Do you think his newfound success was due to hard work or just mere luck? What unusual skill do you have and wish to get famous for? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends and family members!