What is Prosopagnosia? Face blindness meaning explained as Brad Pitt reveals struggle with rare disorder

In a recent interview with GQ for their August 2022 issue, Bullet Train star Brad Pitt opened up about his undiagnosed condition of prosopagnosia or "face blindness." In the interview, Pitt revealed that he believes he suffers from the condition and spoke about its possible impact on his career.

Based on Pitt's self-diagnosis, the actor is unable to "recognize people's faces." The 58-year-old star also established that it is a mystery to him. Pitt further disclosed that he wants to "meet another person" with prosopagnosia.

The actor further revealed that nobody believes his self-diagnosis of the potential condition, which has apparently led to Pitt being perceived as self-absorbed.

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What did Brad Pitt say about his potential condition of prosopagnosia?

In his conversation with GQ's Ottessa Moshfegh, Brad Pitt opened up about his struggle to recognize faces at parties and other such social events. He said:

"Nobody believes me!"

According to the article, Pitt believes that his unconfirmed condition has led people to label him as "aloof, inaccessible." Moshfegh also described Pitt as 'ashamed' for not being able to recognize new faces in social settings.

In 2013, Brad Pitt told Esquire magazine:

"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."

At the time, Brad Pitt also revealed that he had once spent a year enquiring people about where they had met as he was unable to recognize them. However, the actor said that it was worse as people were more offended by his queries about their first interactions.

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Prosopagnosia (aka Face blindness) explained

According to the official website of the UK's National Health Service, prosopagnosia (aka face blindness) essentially means the inability to remember people's faces. The NHS webpage states:

"Face blindness often affects people from birth and is usually a problem a person has for most or all of their life. It can have a severe impact on everyday life."

Meanwhile, other sources have established that people suffering from the condition may not even be able to remember the faces of their friends and family.

Face blindness may be developmental or can also be acquired. The latter is primarily a result of trauma to the brain, stroke, or other such impairments. Meanwhile, Medicinenet claims:

"Face blindness is thought to be the result of abnormalities, damage, or impairment in the right fusiform gyrus, a fold in the brain that appears to coordinate the neural systems that control facial perception and memory."

As per a Time magazine article from 2017, around two percent of the world's population may showcase symptoms of prosopagnosia. Thus, it might be possible that Brad Pitt also has developmental prosopagnosia.

Although, in 2013, Pitt told Esquire that he would get formally diagnosed, but the recent article by GQ insinuates that the actor may not have gotten officially checked out by medical professionals about his condition. Thus, it is uncertain whether the Oklahoma native is suffering from prosopagnosia.