Does Brad Pitt Really have Prosopagnosia?

When an actor states they have a disease, it’s usually a great excuse for people to start talking. Sometimes, it’s to show support, compassion, and understanding or how petty a person can be by stating that this celebrity might have deserved it. Thankfully there’s no fawning or condemnation here, only a genuine interest to learn about as much as entertainment news can give. The disease, known as prosopagnosia, is known as face blindness, or the inability to recognize faces. It sounds like a ridiculous disease since one has to sit and wonder just how such a thing can happen, but it does appear to be documented, and Pitt is adamant that he is suffering from it. The disease does sound like something that would be tough to deal with since being able to recognize the faces of those around you is essential. Still, at this time, it doesn’t sound as though Pitt has any plans on retiring, which might be what many would think about if such a thing were to happen to them.

credit: Legends of the Fall

It’s natural to wonder what this will mean for Pitt’s career.

Any time an actor deals with a disease or condition that seriously affects how they interact with others, it’s fair to think of what will happen to them now that this has been revealed. Somehow this disease doesn’t sound like the worst ever since it’s more about facial recognition than any other sense. It does stand to reason that Pitt would have difficulty moving forward depending on how the disease would affect his everyday interactions on the job or just going about his day. There’s not much doubt that he’s discussed this with the necessary physician, but it’s still easy for the average fan to wonder how this will be handled when he’s on screen. 

The disease doesn’t necessarily hamper a person’s ability to recognize others. 

Prosopagnosia does affect people in a meaningful way since the affected person can’t recognize faces, not even those of people they’ve known for years and years. But there are other ways to recognize people, such as how they walk, how they talk, and other factors that are unique to each person. This means that Pitt can easily continue his career since he should still be able to tell people apart from their different mannerisms and talking styles. That alone should give a lot of people hope that he can continue onward and not think about retirement quite yet since a lot of people would be sad to see Pitt forced to retire because of something that’s not terminal but is problematic in a way that many can’t hope to understand. It’s fair to say that this matter hasn’t been a hot topic for a lot of people since it’s been in the news, but it hasn’t been spread far and wide in the same manner as many other news topics that tend to take up the newsfeeds and are spread like a rash. A few celebrities have had to deal with diseases or conditions over the past several years, and each of them is given a certain amount of respect regarding how their health is relayed to the public. 

credit: Inglorious Basterds

His condition isn’t the worst out there, but it brings up many questions. 

It’s only natural to wonder what this type of disease would be like to live with since not being able to recognize the face of someone you’ve known for a long time feels like it would be a severe impediment in some cases since it could confuse a person quite a bit for a while until they were able to get used to it. However, one thing about this disease is that it appears to affect people from childhood for the length of their life, which leaves one to wonder if he’s been dealing with this for a while and hasn’t told anyone. That could mean that he’s been handling this issue for years and might have decided to deal with it and not bother to reveal that he hasn’t been able to recognize anyone for longer than people have been aware. 

What this means for the years to come is hard to say.

Considering that he might have been dealing with this matter for a while now, it’s fair to think that he might end up sticking around Hollywood for the foreseeable future, considering that he knows so many of his fellow actors that he recognizes them in one way or another would be possible. Thinking that he’s going to be around for a long time to come, or at least long enough to see him show up in a few more movies. 

He’s been going this long; maybe he can keep going for a while.