Rick Genest (born August 7, 1985) is a Canadian model born in Montreal, known as Zombie Boy or Skeleton Boy for having a tattoo of a skeleton across his entire body. Rick was featured in Lady Gaga’s video for “Born This Way”, with Lady Gaga wearing makeup to replicate Genest’s tattoos.
Tux: So Rico, what inspired you to get your body tattooed this way?
Rico: Long story short, when I was a kid, I had a brain tumour. I was kind of depressed, and I was really into punk-rock, so my friends nicknamed me “Zombie”. As I got older, I realized I didn’t want to work 9 to 5 everyday. You know, I didn’t want to have that boring, repetitive lifestyle like everyone else. Those people are the real zombies. I mean, if your ambition is to become manager of Starbucks go for it, but that’s not me. My tattoos symbolize life through death, or death through life. They’re an ode to society and the zombies that comprise it.
