Rick Genest

Rick Genest
Rick Genest in Nicola Formichetti's pop-up shop, Tribeca, September 17, 2011
Born	Rick Genest (1985-08-07) August 7, 1985 LaSalle, Quebec, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Other names	Zombie Boy
Occupation	actor, freakshow performer, fashion model
Years active	2009–present
Website
rickgenest.com

Rick Genest (born August 7, 1985) is a Canadian artist, actor, and fashion model born in Lasalle, Montreal. He is also known as Zombie Boy for the skeletal tattoos covering the majority of his body.^[1]

Personal life

Before he had any tattoos, Genest was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor.^[2] Genest was on the waiting list for 6 months,^{[citation needed]} where he contemplated his own life^{[citation needed]} and possible death, before undergoing the surgery with minimal complications.^{[citation needed]}.

Leaving his house one day, Genest went for a walk and decided to live downtown, on rooftops and in dumpsters or under bridges. Hitchhiking became his main method of transportation. According to his video, he started living "an anarchistic lifestyle". He claims to have already been introduced to punk rock, the punk scene and freak shows before his decision to tattoo himself.

Career

Tattooed as a living skeleton, Rico the Zombie also worked in various sideshows and freakshows across Canada as an illustrated man, fakir, geek, as well as self declared clown. Not long after beginning his facial tattoos, Rico was first introduced to the public on November 13, 2006 in a blog post by Shannon Larratt on BME's ModBlog,^[3] which was followed in March 2008 by his first interview,^[4] by which time his iconic tattoos were largely completed. In this interview Rick clarified that he preferred the moniker "Zombie" to "Skullboy", as BME had been referring to him. The introductions on RzyM's Channel led to increasingly mainstream media coverage, notably a June 2008 feature in 'Bizarre' magazine. In the 2009 made for TV movie "Carny", starring Lou Diamond Phillips as a small town sheriff, Rico was seen as a Tattooed Man at the Carnival. Following, he was again discovered by Marc Quinn, in Bromont, Quebec, where Rico was working the sideshow at Carnival Lune Blue during the summer 2010.

On March 5, 2010, a Facebook fan page was created about Genest's unusual choice of tattoos. This page reached 1,526,292 members (as of November 19, 2011) and ultimately led to his discovery by Lady Gaga's fashion director Nicola Formichetti.^[5]

On January 19, 2011, Rico was featured in the new Thierry Mugler Autumn/Winter men's collection, headlining it on the brand's website, after his discovery by Formichetti, also Mugler's creative director.^[6][7][8][9] It was Rico's discovery and Gaga's urging which actually resulted in the menswear show, something not originally planned.^[10] His discovery also influenced Formichetti on the collection itself.^[10] The show was accompanied by a video featuring Rico shot by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco.^[7] He later featured alongside Lady Gaga in the fashion show for the women's 2011 Autumn/Winter line.^[11]

On February 27, 2011, Rico was featured in Lady Gaga's video for "Born This Way", with Lady Gaga wearing makeup to replicate Genest's tattoos.^[12]

Rico can be seen styled in Mugler by Formichetti and shot by Mariano Vivanco in the sixth volume of Vogue Hommes Japan, the editorial being titled "Hard To Be Passive".^[13][14] In the Spring/Summer issue of GQ Style (UK), Formichetti and he are interviewed, with Rico shot in Mugler by Karim Sadli for the editorial.^[15]

In late 2011, Rico became part of a campaign entitled "Go Beyond the Cover", promoting Dermablend professional makeup products, appearing in a video where a makeup team covered all the tattoos on his head, torso, arms, and part of his back in its concealer product. The advert then shows him sitting with the phrase "How do you judge a book?". He then proceeds to remove portions of the makeup, starting with a section of his chest to reveal the tattoo underneath, continuing to his face. The video then shows the process of applying the cover up played backwards.^[16] The commercial success of this campaign led to a 2-year endorsement contract with L'Oreal for Rico, who became its first ever male spokesperson.

Zombie Boy also appeared in the music video of the Polish pop singer Honey. The video for her song "Sabotage" was released on 19 Jan 2012.

For the 2012 San Diego Comic Con, the Tonner Doll Company produced "Zombie Boy", a limited edition character figure in Rico's likeness. He was Tonner's guest at the convention as well. Included with each doll is a certificate of authenticity signed by Genest (as "Rico the Zombie"). The edition was limited to 400 dolls, all of which were sold as of July 27, 2012.

In September 2012 Zombie Boy became the face of the iconic Jay-Z music fashion label Rocawear for its re-launch in Europe.

He was cast as the character Savage in the film 47 Ronin, which was released in late 2013. The big budget samurai fantasy action film stars Keanu Reeves.

Rico recently collaborated with British solo artist KAV on the single "Dirty Rejects" released May 21, 2013. They spent the first part of 2013 recording an album project in Los Angeles, which is due for launch later in the year.

Filmography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rick Genest.

• Rick Genest at the Internet Movie Database
• Rick Genest at Rotten Tomatoes
• Official Website
• Official Facebook page
• Official Twitter page

References

Notes