Rick Genest

Personal life

Before he had any tattoos, Zombie Boy was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Zombie Boy was on the waiting list for six months, where he contemplated his own life and possible death, before undergoing the surgery with minimal complications.

Leaving his house one day, Zombie Boy 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, Zombie Boy also worked in various sideshows and freakshows across Canada as an illustrated man. Not long after beginning his facial tattoos, Genest 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 Zombie Boy 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, Zombie Boy was seen as a Tattooed Man at the Carnival. Following, he was again discovered by Marc Quinn, in Bromont, Quebec, where Zombie Boy was working with the sideshow, Alive on the Inside, at Carnivàle Lune Bleue during the Summer of 2010.

On March 5, 2010, a Facebook fan page was created about Zombie Boy'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, Zombie Boy 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 Zombie Boy's discovery and Gaga's urging which 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 Zombie Boy, 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, Zombie Boy was featured in Lady Gaga's video for "Born This Way", with Lady Gaga wearing makeup to replicate Zombie Boy's tattoos. Zombie Boy was featured in the sixth volume of Vogue Hommes Japan in an editorial titled "Hard To Be Passive". In the Summer issue of GQ Style (UK), Formichetti and he are interviewed, with Zombie Boy shot in Mugler by Karim Sadli for the editorial.

In late 2011, Zombie Boy was featured in 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. The commercial success of this campaign led to a 2-year endorsement contract with L'Oreal for Zombie Boy, 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 Zombie Boy's likeness. He was Tonner's guest at the convention as well. Included with each doll is a certificate of authenticity signed by Zombie Boy (as "Rico the Zombie"). The edition was limited to 400 dolls, all of which were sold as of July 27, 2012.

In September 2012, Genest became the face of the Jay-Z music fashion label Roc-A-Wear for its re-launch in Europe.

He was cast as the character "foreman" in the film 47 Ronin, which was released in late 2013. The big-budget samurai fantasy-action film stars Keanu Reeves. Zombie Boy was heavily featured in the marketing for the film, appearing on posters and in trailers.

Zombie Boy 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 and a video titled "Monsters Versus the World" in Los Angeles. The project has been discontinued.

As of January 2015, Zombie Boy is working with Riggs, ex-Rob Zombie guitarist, on an upcoming collaborative album.