Rick Genest

Rick Genest (born August 7, 1985) is a Canadian artist and fashion model born in Lasalle, Montreal. He is also known as Zombie Boy for the skeletal tattoos covering the majority of his body. --- Before he had any tattoos, Genest was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and told his chances of surviving surgery were slim. The invasive surgery was laser surgery through the palate of the mouth. Genest was on the waiting list for 6 months, where he contemplated his own life and possible death. He chose to embrace life and live day to day. He survived the surgery with minimal complications. Leaving his house one day, Genest went for a walk and decided to live downtown, on rooftops 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. --- 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, which was followed in March 2008 by his first interview, 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 Philips 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 (Executive Producer and Founder, Wayne Van De Graaff) 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. 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. It was Rico's discovery and Gaga's urging which actually resulted in the menswear show, something not originally planned. His discovery also influenced Formichetti on the collection itself. The show was accompanied by a video featuring Rico shot by fashion photographer Mariano Vivanco. He later featured alongside Lady Gaga in the fashion show for the women's 2011 Autumn/Winter line. 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. 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". 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. --- He was cast as the character Savage in the upcoming film 47 Ronin, which is being released in late 2013. The big budget samurai fantasy action film stars Keanu Reeves.