Zombie Boy Rick Genest’s Hollywood Career Before and After Costarring With Lady Gaga

The modeling world was rocked by the loss of Rick Genest — better known as Zombie Boy — who once co-starred in a Lady Gaga music video.

Genest was a Canadian artist who was recognizable for having his entire body tattooed as a living skeleton. Earlier on in his career, he was working sideshow and freakshow acts in his home country.

He was first introduced to the world on a broad scale after being the focus of a blog post on the Body Modification Ezine in 2008.

Following the feature, Genest’s career really took, leading him into some major projects.

Scroll down to read more about Zombie Boy and his life, career, and death.

“Carny”

The first ever big break that Genest got was in the Canadian television horror film Carny, which was produced by Syfy. (The film was re-titled Jersey Devil for the Australian market.)

In Carny, Genest played a title character, co-starring alongside Golden Globe Award nominee Lou Diamond Phillips.

While the film was not a massive success, it served as a stepping stone in Genest’s career as an artist.

Modeling

After the BME report on him, Genest found himself highly sought after by the fashion industry.

The first big project he took on was with the 2011 Thierry Mugler Autumn/Winter men’s collection. Genest was the headlining model for the brand during his collection.

He would later go on to appear in the Japan version of Men’s Vogue, GQ Style, as well as become the face of Roc-A-Wear — Jay-Z’s music fashion label — for its European re-launch.

“Born This Way”

Zombie Boy got his biggest break when he was cast to co-star with Lady Gaga in her music video for “Born The Way.”

In the video, Gaga had herself painted to look just like Genest, along with matching apparel.

Interestingly, Gaga remained a fan and champion of Genest, encouraging him in his modeling career. Following reports of his passing, she tweeted out that his death was “beyond devastating.”

First Ever L’Oreal Spokesman

One of the biggest accomplishments of Genest’s career, was becoming the first ever male spokesperson for L’Oreal cosmetics.

What led the company to bring Genest on was a promo video he did for Dermablend, in which he appeared without any tattoos visible, and then began to wipe away the makeup he was revealed to be wear which had been covering them up.

“47 Ronin”

A couple of years after he appeared in the “Born This Way” video, Genest was cast in the Keanu Reeves film 47 Ronin.

The movie is a “fictional account of the forty-seven rōnin, a real-life group of masterless samurai in 18th-century Japan who avenged the death of their lord.”

Zombie Boy was heavily included in the film’s promotional campaign, but due to post-production issues his role was largely edited out before the movie was released.

Music Career

In addition to his modeling work and acting roles, Genest also began pursuing a career in music.

He partnered with former Rob Zombie guitarist Mike Riggs and released a a few songs, with plans to do a whole album at some point.

While a complete project never manifested, the duo did share a medley of tracks they had been working on, titled the “Zombie Boy 666 Medley.”

TEDx Talk

In 2017, Genest stood up at the TEDx event in Klagenfurt, Austria and delivered a Ted Talk titled “Normal is an Illusion.”

It was during this that he shared openly that he has been suffering from a brain tumor.

“Zombie Boy realized that normal is not a reality,” a description of the talk read. “When diagnosed with brain cancer a few years ago, Rick’s normal life was disrupted. While he was forced to contemplate the inevitability of death he started to reflect his inner feelings on his body.”

Death

Sadly, Genest was reported to have taken his own life on Aug. 1, 2018.

He was found dead at his apartment in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, a borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Reports have suggested that he jumped to his death but his family believes that his death could have been an accident.

Genest was only 32 at the time of his death.