Naya Rivera's 10-year-old son Josey starts acting, six years after her tragic death
Six years after Naya Rivera’s tragic death, her son Josey is stepping into his first acting role — want to know which project?
On a Pennsylvania set, 10-year-old Josey Hollis Dorsey is stepping in front of the camera for the first time in the indie drama The Burning Valley, sharing scenes with his dad, actor Ryan Dorsey. The feature is directed by first-time filmmaker Evan Coury and centers on a steelworker reckoning with a mill shutdown and a town in decline.
Josey is credited simply as “Son,” with Ryan listed as “Father,” a pairing that adds a personal layer to a story about family and upheaval. Filming is underway in Pennsylvania; no release date has been announced.
Before this, Josey had a taste of performing in a West Virginia production of Seussical Jr. at age 8, after relocating from Los Angeles with Ryan. The Burning Valley marks his first professional on-screen role.
Josey’s start in movies arrives six years after the death of his mother, Naya Rivera. In July 2020, Rivera and then–four-year-old Josey went boating on Lake Piru in California. Authorities said Rivera used her remaining strength to get Josey back onto their pontoon before she disappeared underwater; the Ventura County Medical Examiner ruled her death an accidental drowning. Her body was recovered on July 13, 2020.
A DC thread
Rivera’s career also touched Gotham: she voiced Selina Kyle/Catwoman in the two-part animated film Batman: The Long Halloween (2021), joining Jensen Ackles and Josh Duhamel in the principal cast. That DC connection resurfaces this month with a new animated take on one of Batman’s most bruising arcs.
Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall adapts the “Breaking of the Bat” storyline, beginning in the chaos after Arkham Asylum is destroyed and Gotham’s worst are unleashed. The movie is rated R and sets up the clash with Bane that pushes Bruce Wayne to his limit.
- Anson Mount — Batman
- Michael Mando — Bane
- Pablo Schreiber — Jean-Paul Valley/Azrael
Batman: Knightfall Part 1 is available digitally starting August 25, 2026 .
Parts Two and Three are slated to roll out later in 2026 and in early 2027 , continuing the aftermath of Bruce Wayne’s defeat and the transformation of Gotham’s protector.