Brad Pitt has recently spoken about living with Prosopagnosia, and it’s a far more common condition than you may think.
The actor, best known for his roles in Fight Club, Oceans 11, Se7en, and Moneyball, spoke out recently about his symptoms from living with the condition.
Prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, essentially means that Brad PItt may be a famous face but is unlikely to remember the face of others.
Face blindness leaves people struggling to recognise faces or distinguish between people easily, and it’s a neurological disorder.
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This can be either developmental, ie genetic, or acquired if you suffer a brain injury.
Pitt however is not alone in speaking out about his struggle with face blindness, as several other well-known faces have spoken out.
Stephen Fry
The British actor, who became famous alongside Hugh Laurie for their comedic double act in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, is one of the celebrities who has openly spoken about his struggles with Prosopagnosia.
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Fry has spoken about how he will sometimes when running into family on the street embarrassingly turn into ‘autograph mode’.
Speaking to Steven Bartlett, Fry said of the condition: “It means I will see you on the street in two days time and I will blank you because I won’t recognise you I’m afraid.”
He also stated the condition was ‘gut wrenching’ because people assume you ‘look down on them’ as a result.
Duncan Bannatyne
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Duncan Bannatyne, the businessman who became famous for appearing on Dragon’s Den, revealed that he had Prosopagnosia on Twitter.
The philanthropist posted: “I would like prosopagnosia to become more known as it cause[s] sufferers to be thought of as rude.
“Google prosopagnosia, you might suffer from it … or have a friend who does.”
Bannatyne even stated in a previous interview that a manager of his quit because he believed he didn’t recognise him or remember him.
Jane Goodall
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The famous English zoologist and chimpanzees specialist ironically is not good with human faces.
While she has spent 60 years studying chimpanzees and her social habits, she will often be met with the social faux pas of not remembering people’s faces.
Speaking to the New Yorker for a story, Goodall said: “I have huge problems with people with ‘average’ faces. I have to search for a mole or something.
“I find it very embarrassing! I can be all day with someone and not know them the next day.”
Goodall reportedly reacts to everyone as if she knows them, stating that whilst it’s awkward, it’s less awkward than the alternative.
Brad Pitt
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Pitt opened up about his symptoms with the condition in an interview with GQ in 2022, saying: “Nobody believes me!”
In an interview in 2015, prior to his official diagnosis, he said: “So many people hate me because they think I'm disrespecting them.”
He stated that he took a year where he admitted to anyone he didn’t recognise he would meet, before saying: “But it just got worse. People were more offended. 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 and the above celebrities are not alone, as Steve Wozniak, Chuck Close, Markos Moulitsas, and Joanna Lumley have all spoken about having face blindness.
Topics: Brad Pitt, Stephen Fry, Celebrity, TV and Film, Health
Michael Slavin