Inside Hollywood icon Brad Pitt’s little-known health condition – but ‘nobody believes him

Brad Pitt first rose to fame in 1991 when he starred in Thelma & Louise (Image: Getty Images)

He is arguably one of the most famous actors in Hollywood, sharing the screen with George Clooney, Leonardo Di Caprio and Margot Robbie to name a few.

Brad Pitt first rose to fame playing the hunky cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991 drama Thelma & Louise, and he has only gone from strength to strength since.

The Oklahoma native is known not only for his illustrious film career but also for his star-studded romance history, particularly with his ex-wife Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Anniston.

But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for the award-winning actor, who has suffered several health complications over the course of his career.

As the Fight Club star celebrates his 61st birthday with his nearest and dearest, Express.co.uk has taken a dive into his little-known health condition.

The actor believes he has a neurological disorder (Image: NBC via Getty Images)

Back in 2022, the Mr & Mrs Smith star opened up about his everyday struggles with social interactions. Speaking to GQ magazine, he opened up about the shame he feels when dealing with what he believes to be prosopagnosia, a neurological disorder typically referred to as face blindness.

He explained that although he hasn’t been officially diagnosed with the condition, he has extreme difficulty recognising people’s faces.

The star confessed that his struggled with recognising people has led others to believe he’s self-absorbed and making up the condition.

He told the publication for his August cover story: “Nobody believes me!” adding that he’d like to meet and speak to another person with the same condition.

He opened up about his struggles with social interactions in 2022 (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Pitt previously told Esquire that he’s often branded “egotistical” and “conceited” for his inability to remember names. The dad-of-six admitted: “That’s why I stay at home. So many people hate me because they think I’m disrespecting them.

“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.”

The Bullet Train star said he once tried to nicely ask people to remind him where they’d met, but “people were more offended.”

He went on: “You meet so many damned people and then you meet ‘em again.” People with prosopagnosia, or face blindness, typically avoid social interactions and can develop a social anxiety disorder.

There are two types of prosopagnosia, developmental and acquired, according to the NHS. Studies show 1 in 50 people may have developmental prosopagnosia.

Dr Leah Croll, assistant professor of neurology at Temple University Hospital, recently told Good Morning America that prosopagnosia is “a very real syndrome” that can come with a wide spectrum of symptoms that can impact everyday life.

She told the daytime show: “For some people, it may be just some minor difficulties in remembering people’s names and keeping strangers straight.

“And for other people, it may be more severe such that they have issues with recognising their own friends and family or even issues recognising their own reflection.

“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.

“So, for someone thinking that the Brad Pitt story sounds familiar to them or that they’re having similar symptoms, I would recommend they go see a neurologist and get formally tested and evaluated.”