Healing like a hero
- May 5
- 4 min read
CSU student Josie Wilka tells her experience of being in the upcoming “Superman” movie and being diagnosed with moyamoya disease within the same week.
Written by Kirsten Kimbler
Sunlight reflects off the towering skyscrapers in downtown Cleveland, a gentle June breeze drifting between the unusually hectic city streets. Hundreds of core extras are guided to the “Superman” film holding room, Josie Wilka among them.
This was the first time Wilka and the extras were shuttled across Cleveland to the official “Superman” set. The set was completely new to Wilka, so much bigger and more professional than anything she had seen in Cleveland State University (CSU)’s Department of Theatre and Dance before.
Despite the tiring 12-hour day on set, Wilka had never felt so ecstatic to be a part of something.
“I wanna do this forever,” Wilka, 19, said to her mother at the end of her first day. “This is the best day of my entire life.”
Wilka, a Missouri native, came to CSU to pursue a degree in theater and experience the country’s second largest theatre district: Playhouse Square. Wilka has had an undeniable passion for theater since her freshman year of high school, when she unconventionally got the lead role in her school’s play.
Although not knowing exactly when she fell in love with it, Wilka loves the way theater pushes her to discover and embrace her true self.
“Theater is an avenue to find yourself,” Wilka said. “It’s a way to be yourself. To be able to act like a different person you have to know who you are first.”
She had not planned, however, on Cleveland giving her the opportunity to earn her first acting credit.
After hearing about the opportunity through CSU’s School of Film & Media Arts, Wilka’s boyfriend, Brayden Keubler, shared the application link with her. From there, scoring the core extra role was as easy as submitting headshots and filling out the application.
After landing the role, Wilka prepared herself for her first day of costume fitting on June 14, 2024. Later that day, she had a CT scan of her brain after consistent migraines that were disrupting her everyday life.
A term she had never heard of before was also mentioned that day: moyamoya disease.
Diagnosing moyamoya disease requires many tests and specialists due to its rarity, so Wilka initially rejected the idea. A few weeks later, in between “Superman” shoots, she would go in for her official diagnosis.
“Until the doctor looks me in the eye and tells me I have it, I’m not going to believe it,” Wilka said prior to her appointment.
Wilka explained how the doctor “indeed looked [her] in the eye” and diagnosed her with moyamoya disease.
Moyamoya is a cerebrovascular disease (or a condition that affects the “brain veins”) that specifically affects the cautery artery in your head. It causes the main arteries to collapse, which leads to collateral veins that puff out “like a cloud of smoke,” Wilka explained.
Imaging of moyamoya disease shows the puff of smoke within the veins, which is what “moyamoya” means in Japanese.
There is no cure for moyamoya disease, but there is a treatment: brain surgery.
At the time, Wilka had only ever had her tonsils removed.
“Brain surgery was a little bit of a step-up,” she said.
While everyone around her was instantly terrified for Wilka’s future, she described her initial reaction to her diagnosis as denial, never fully believing that it was true.
Brain surgery was something Wilka had never even considered needing in her lifetime, especially not at 19 years old. Despite the reality of her situation, however, Wilka managed to remain positive to herself and the people in her life that needed it the most.
Wilka explained that she had only given herself two options: either feel sorry for herself or continue being her upbeat self. She chose the latter.
“If people around me are worried, my first instinct is to make them feel better,” Wilka said. “I had confidence that it would work out.”
Wilka spent the next three months anticipating the biggest hurdle she’s ever had to face: a craniotomy.
But she did not let the anticipation get to her, Wilka continued to work on the “Superman” set and received an abundant amount of support from friends, family and even her idols.
Just a few weeks after her diagnosis, “Superman” director James Gunn responded to a post on X about Wilka’s GoFundMe page.
“Yes I remember her. A very vibrant person. I donated,” Gunn said in a post on X.
This came as a complete surprise to Wilka and she couldn’t believe that he remembered her.
“I was dumbfounded,” Wilka said. “I didn’t know what to do. I replied to every text with ‘AHH.’”
Gunn was not the only system of support Wilka found through the film. With such passion and excitement for this project, Wilka was supported everyday by her castmates and was able to keep her mind off her diagnosis.
Not everyone she worked with knew her situation, so Wilka was able to go on set and be “treated like an actor, not a diagnosis,” she said.
“It was the best and worst things that have ever happened in my life at the same time,” Wilka said.
On Sept. 23, 2024, Wilka went under for her craniotomy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
The procedure is a surgical removal of a part of the skull (the “bone flap”) to expose the brain. In Wilka’s case, her veins were then rewired to create blood flow in the portion of her brain that was severely lacking it.
Her doctor then explained how the veins will eventually “grow out like a garden” and spread the blood throughout her brain.
Now, nearly eight months later, Wilka has made a full recovery since her craniotomy.
This journey has proved to Wilka that listening to yourself is one of the most important things you can do in life. In both achieving your dreams and checking in on your health, Wilka said to trust yourself.
“Trusting myself saved me from having a stroke one day,” Wilka said. “Take yourself seriously.”
