Brad Pitt, 60, is a Hollywood star and by today’s standards, a legend whom everyone recognizes from movies or television over the past few decades.
Recently, the legendary actor has opened up about a rare condition that he says complicates his life and has even led some people to outright hate him.
On stage or in front of the camera, you need to be sharp and skilled at memorizing your lines. Perhaps that’s why it’s quite surprising that Brad Pitt has issues with something akin to this.
According to the award-winning actor and producer, he believes he grapples with undiagnosed prosopagnosia, commonly referred to as ”face blindness.” Face blindness is a rare trait, affecting approximately 2.5% of people worldwide for genetic reasons.
In an interview with GQ magazine in 2022, Pitt discussed how the condition especially complicates social situations and meeting people in his life.
The star, in his own words, is unable to remember new people or recognize their faces almost ever.
”No one ever believes me!”, Pitt describes the situation when he has tried to explain it.
He has previously mentioned noticing symptoms of the condition as early as 2013. Face blindness and the difficulties it brings in remembering people have led many to imagine him as truly rude and dismissive.
“So many people hate me because they think I’m disrespecting them,” he said at the time. “So I swear to God, I took one year where I just said, this year, I’m just going to cop to it and say to people, ‘Okay, where did we meet?’ But it just got worse. People were more offended.”
He continued: “Every now and then, someone will give me context, and I’ll say, ‘Thank you for helping me.’ But I piss more people off. You get this thing, like, ‘You’re being egotistical. You’re being conceited.’ But it’s a mystery to me, man. I can’t grasp a face and yet I come from such a design/aesthetic point of view. I am going to get it tested.”
Pitt tells GQ magazine that he has not yet received an official diagnosis of prosopagnosia because an official diagnosis requires undergoing extensive facial recognition tests in addition to research.
What on earth is prosopagnosia?
Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, means difficulty recognizing a person based on their face. Due to prosopagnosia, even the faces of familiar people, such as classmates or family members, can go unrecognized.
At its worst, all faces may look the same without any differences. In such cases, it’s difficult for a person to recognize another without another clue such as their voice.
Many people with face blindness may learn to recognize people through various means and may not even realize they’re suffering from the condition.
There are two different types of face blindness: congenital, known as developmental, and acquired, resulting from injury.
Various brain injuries, such as strokes, can, for example, cause symptoms of prosopagnosia afterwards. While there isn’t a universally applicable treatment for prosopagnosia, therapy typically involves acquiring compensatory strategies to utilize in social situations requiring facial recognition.
Fortunately, Brad Pitt is not alone in struggling with this “disease.” In fact, a number of prominent individuals face the same issues.
In addition to Pitt, celebrities like legendary primatologist Jane Goodall, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and the esteemed actor Alan Alda have grappled with prosopagnosia, among many others.