A man who pretended to be dead for more than 300 days in order to bag a part on CSI had to adapt his tactics in order to be successful.
It worked for him in the end, as he was eventually asked if he wanted to play the role of a corpse on CSI: Vegas.
This story is an inspiring tale about how persistence and commitment can get you ahead in life.
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Practising a skill and honing your craft is of vital importance if you want to make a success of yourself, regardless of what the skill is.
If you want to play first violin in a symphony orchestra, you’re gonna have to practise all the time.
The same goes if you want to play a corpse on a well-known forensic crime investigation show, it would seem.
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Kentucky man Josh Nalley decided that he wanted a piece of that, so began to share a video each day in which he pretended And eventually he was.
Sharing the videos on his TikTok account @living_dead_josh, for 321 days Nalley pretended to be dead in various locations and situations, lying prone on the floor and secretly waiting for the call from Hollywood.
After the 321st day, that call came.
He was offered a role in the Las Vegas edition of the show, and now hopes to find other work playing a corpse.
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However, over the time he had to change his style, realising that certain things would make his performance really stand out.
Speaking with the Courier Journal, he explained: "I don't like speaking on camera, but I can lie there and act like I am dead pretty easily.
"Having done more than 300 of these posts, I have progressed and gotten better.
“At first, you could see me breathing, or the fake blood looked really bad."
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"I have gotten rid of using the blood and gotten better at holding my breath."
One particular change came when he realised that the starkness of the ‘dead’ body in shot was accentuated by movement around it.
That meant – ironically – that he tried to liven up his lifeless scenes, often using his dogs.
He explained: "I have figured out that it's best to have some kind of movement in the videos so it doesn't look like a still photograph.
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"One of my dogs still seems curious about what I am up to.
"The other one just kind of wanders by and then wanders off."
Nalley said that the idea came to him when watching a TikToker talk about hot sauce and ended up getting a load of responses from companies.
If she could do that – he thought – why couldn’t he play a corpse on CSI?
There have been ups and downs, like when a telemarketer called during one video, but eventually the TV show got in touch and asked: “You free this week?”
He was, and the rest is history.
The restaurant manager isn’t set to give up his day job any time soon, but he says he has received other offers for similar roles, so maybe there is something happening for him.
In the interim, he’s still sharing vids of himself playing dead, and people are still watching them carefully.
Follow your dreams kids, no matter how niche, strange, or macabre they might be.
Topics: US News, TV and Film, TikTok, Weird
Tom Wood