Face blindness (also known as prosopagnosia) is not as rare as everyone thinks. In fact, it is believed that it affects 1 in every 33 people - representing approximately 3% of the world's population - with different severities.
People in the industry
So, here is a short list I compiled of people in the industry that have openly disclosed they have face blindness:
- Brad Pitt. Yes, Inglourious Basterds, Seven, and Fight Club, that guy. He believes he does have some form of prosopagnosia and actually complains that "nobody believes him". However, it is worth noting that he is self-described, never formally diagnosed.
- Stephen Fry. A famous British actor, comedian, and writer. You may have heard of some of his most known books, Mythos and Odyssey.
- Joanna Lumley. Best known for her BAFTA-winning turn as Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous, plus The New Avengers and Sapphire & Steel. I've personally watched her in Fool Me Once, and she was great in it.
- Oliver Sacks. A neurologist and writer who was open about his own severe face blindness. He described it in the 2010 New Yorker essay Face-Blind and featured it in his better-known book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (1987), though as part of a much broader and more severe visual agnosia. Do not forget this guy, he will come up again in a bit.
Movies
- Faces in the Crowd (2011). A very interesting plot. As a result of a head injury while surviving a serial killer's attack, a teacher develops face blindness. Now, she must identify him without being able to see faces.
- Prosopagnosia (2011, short). A crime thriller about prosopagnosia. Imagine being the primary suspect of your best friend's murder... If that was not enough, you also saw the 'real' killer's face but were unable to recognize him due to the condition. This film was also the "short of the week" in 2015 by Short of the Week, LLC.
TV shows
- Brilliant Minds (NBC, 2024-). Remember when I told you not to forget Oliver Sacks? This series, which you have almost certainly heard of, has a character that is directly modeled on him: Dr. Oliver Wolf, a neurologist with prosopagnosia.
- Arrested Development. The only major comedic treatment. Joan and her son, Marky Bark, both have face blindness.
Interestingly, there are also many titles from countries in East and Southeast Asia, namely:
- My Holo Love (Netflix, 2020, Korean). Han So-yeon has the condition and in order to overcome it, she has an AI hologram assistant.
- Faceless Love (Thai). A chief executive officer (CEO) with prosopagnosia.
- FOGDOG (2025, Japanese). A police officer with face blindness but exceptional memory.
- Other Korean titles that include prosopagnosia: Rich Man, The Girl Who Sees Scents, and Surplus Princess.
Beyond the screen
It is actually more common than you think, even outside the film industry. For example:
- Steve Wozniak. The co-founder of Apple Inc. with his early partner, Steve Jobs.
- Jane Goodall. A scientist whose research changed science by showing that animals have complex emotions, personalities, and social relations.
- Chuck Close. A portrait painter who spent his career making enormous paintings of faces he could not recognize.
Even in games and anime:
- Zero Escape: 999. Gentarou Hongou's face blindness acts as a plot motivation.
- Kashimashi. Yasuna sees all male characters as faceless blurs.
Sources
This took quite some time and plenty of sources: Harvard Medical School, CBS News, LADbible, NBC Insider, Short of the Week, The Wrap - Oliver Sacks true story, NeuroPsyFi, IMDb - Prosopagnosia (2011), Wikipedia - My Holo Love, KoreanDrama.org, Arrested Development Wiki, Zero Escape Wiki, and Face Blind UK.
If you've read this far, thank you for your time :)