Brad Pitt may be one of the most recognizable faces on the planet, but he has opened up about his own struggles when it comes to recognizing others.
The actor has pulled back the curtain on a private struggle that’s left him feeling “ashamed,” isolated, and misunderstood.
If you've ever struggled to recognize somebody you've previously met, not only could that result in an awkward interaction that makes you look rude, but it means you could actually be suffering from a condition called prosopagnosia - something that Pitt believes he may have.
In a previous interview with GQ, the now-61-year-old Oscar-winning actor opened up about the everyday anxiety he experiences navigating social situations — something he believes stems from an undiagnosed neurological condition known as prosopagnosia, or face blindness.
“Nobody believes me," Pitt told the magazine. He says his inability to recognize faces — even those he’s met before — has left people thinking he’s arrogant or aloof. But according to Pitt, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“So many people hate me because they think I'm disrespecting them,” he previously shared with Esquire. “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.”
Though Pitt admitted he hasn’t received an official diagnosis, the actor's experience aligns with symptoms of prosopagnosia — a condition the UK’s National Health Service defines as a difficulty in recognizing people's faces.
There are two known types: developmental, which appears without brain injury and can be genetic, and acquired, which results from brain damage such as a stroke or head trauma.
Pitt suspects he may have developmental prosopagnosia, which can affect as many as one in 50 people, according to the NHS. For many, the condition leads to social withdrawal and anxiety, which Pitt knows all too well.
“That's why I stay at home,” he told Esquire in 2013. Back then, he said he took a proactive approach and tried asking people where they’d met before. “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.”
Despite the embarrassment and stigma, Pitt said he genuinely wants to connect with people and remember them. “You meet so many damned people,” he told GQ. “And then you meet 'em again.”
His fear? That people walk away from him feeling ignored or snubbed. “It may leave those he meets with a negative impression, and a reputation that he is 'remote and aloof, inaccessible, self-absorbed',” GQ noted. But in reality, Pitt says he feels “ashamed” when he can’t recall someone’s face.
Dr. Leah Croll, an assistant professor of neurology at Temple University Hospital, weighed in on the condition in an interview with Good Morning America, clarifying that prosopagnosia is “a very real syndrome” with a wide range of symptoms.
“For some people, it may be just some minor difficulties in remembering people's names and keeping strangers straight,” she said. “And for other people, it may be more severe such that they have issues with recognizing their own friends and family or even issues recognizing their own reflection.”
Croll — who has not diagnosed Pitt — added: “I think that Brad Pitt is experiencing something that many patients experience which is this funny feeling that something is off, but they're not quite sure what it is or where to go for help.”
There’s currently no cure for prosopagnosia, but experts say therapy can help patients create strategies to cope. “Develop compensatory strategies,” the National Institutes of Health advises.
Pitt said he would love to connect with someone who shares his experience. “I'd like to meet another,” he told GQ.
In the same interview, Pitt revealed he has also struggled for years with “low-grade depression,” but said he’s now embracing “a greater embrace” of his support system. “I think joy’s been a newer discovery,” he said.
In other news, a French woman recently lost nearly $851,000 after being duped by scammers posing as Brad Pitt in an elaborate online romance hoax.
The 53-year-old interior designer, identified only as Anne, told French channel TF1 that it all started in September 2023 with a message from an Instagram account pretending to be Pitt’s mother, Jane Etta Pitt.
The conversation quickly pivoted to a supposed match with “Brad,” who messaged her directly the next day. “Hello Anne, my mother told me a lot about you. I would like to know more,” the impersonator wrote. Over time, Anne received AI-generated photos, poetry, and even hospital images of Pitt hooked up to an IV, all designed to tug at her emotions—and her wallet.
The scam escalated as “Pitt” claimed he had cancer, his bank accounts were frozen by ex-wife Angelina Jolie, and he needed help covering expenses. Anne ultimately transferred €830,000 before realizing the truth.
The heartbreak and financial loss left her hospitalized with severe depression. French police are investigating, and the case mirrors a wider scam trend sweeping across Europe—where fraudsters continue using Pitt’s image to lure victims. In a separate case, five individuals in Spain were arrested after conning two women out of €325,000.