Barry actor Anthony Carrigan said his alopecia has improved his acting capabilities.
The 39-year-old actor stars as NoHo Hank in HBO’s Bill Hader-led hitman comedy.
Recently speaking to Page Six, Carrigan shared that he started losing a majority of his hair in his twenties. And eventually, he had to wear a hairpiece and false eyelashes for his role in the 2009 one-season series, The Forgotten.
Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that occurs when the immune system attacks hair follicles, causing sudden hair loss.
He recalled afterwards being told by a “number of people” that he would no longer be able to book acting jobs due to his hair loss.
“I was told that I wasn’t attractive anymore,” the actor remembered. “I was told that I wasn’t going to book roles. It was something that I was so terrified of hearing from a young age.”
However, he said it was others’ negativity that in fact pushed him to chase roles he really wanted.
“It gave me the passion and lit a fire to prove them wrong,” he added. “And essentially, that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Carrigan believes his alopecia provides him with a “uniqueness” that he can lean into, making him a better actor.
“I feel like these days everyone is trying to conform in some way and I feel like what makes people special?” he said. “That’s where the interesting stuff comes from. That’s where pretty interesting performances come from.”
Alopecia was brought into greater public conversation following this year’s Academy Awards incident, which saw Will Smith slap Chris Rock on live television after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s hair loss.
