Naya Rivera’s son, Josey Hollis Dorsey, is making his film debut alongside father Ryan Dorsey six years after the Glee star’s death.
Josey, 10, is set to appear in The Burning Valley, a new drama written and directed by Evan Coury that’s currently filming in Pennsylvania, per The Hollywood Reporter. The father and son will play characters listed as “Father” and “Boy” in the film’s cast, with Tyler Miles playing a character named Nick Pope.
Josey’s impending arrival on the big screen follows his 2024 stage appearance in a production of Seussical Jr in West Virginia. He and his father had moved to the state from Los Angeles the previous year.
Josey’s mother died over six years ago. Rivera was 33 when she drowned in California’s Lake Piru on 8 July 2020.
Rivera had taken her then four-year-old son on a boating trip. When the pair did not return to the marina, staff went looking for them. Josey was found alone on the rented pontoon boat, wearing a life jacket. He later told investigators that he and his mother had gone swimming and while he had managed to climb back aboard, she hadn’t.
Rivera’s body was recovered from the lake five days later and the Ventura County medical examiner ruled that her death was caused by accidental drowning.
Rivera was best known for playing Santana Lopez on the Fox musical series Glee from 2009 to 2015, becoming one of its most recognisable cast members.
She had begun acting as a child, appearing in TV series like The Royal Family and Family Matters before her breakthrough on Glee.
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Rivera and Dorsey married in Mexico in July 2014 and welcomed Josey in September the next year. Just over a year later, in November 2016, Rivera filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking sole custody of their son.
The couple later attempted to reconcile, but their divorce was ultimately finalised in 2018.
In November 2020, four months after Rivera’s death, Dorsey brought a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and the area’s water management district on Josey’s behalf. The court papers claimed Lake Piru had a “deadly history”, citing at least 26 other drowning deaths since its opening in 1959. The family and estate eventually reached a private settlement in 2022.
Despite the breakdown of their marriage, Dorsey and Rivera continued to parent Josey together. After Rivera’s death, Dorsey wrote that the actress had left behind “the sweetest and kindest smart little boy we could ever hope for”.
“We were just in the back swimming with Josey the day before,” he wrote in a tribute posted after her death. “I’m thankful for our times and our journey that brought us together and gave us the sweetest and kindest smart little boy we could ever hope for.”
In a 2025 interview with People, Dorsey described Josey as “such a happy kid”. “He wakes up happy, all energy. I’m trying to be the best parent that I can be and raise a good little man. He gives me a reason to keep going with my life,” he said.