Carrigan has alopecia, a disease that causes severe hair loss. And in a new interview with People, the “Barry” star opened up about his struggles with the condition and the way it impacted his acting career. “There was a moment where my alopecia had progressed so much so that I had lost pretty much half [of] my scalp, both my eyebrows [and] all my eyelashes,” he said. “It really threw everyone that I was working with, and no one knew what to do with me.” While Carrigan is not the only Hollywood star with alopecia (Jada Pinkett Smith notably has the condition as well), his appearance proved to be an obstacle early in his career.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. That led Carrigan to stop attempting to hide his hair loss and begin the process of auditioning for roles as a hairless man. “It was a series of baby steps to accept [it],” he said. “Talking about it was very therapeutic for me. And even talking about it now, I’m strangely very grateful for this experience and how much it taught me about radical self-acceptance.” Ultimately, Carrigan believes that his decision to embrace his alopecia has improved his performances as an actor. It certainly seems to be working out for Carrigan, who picked up an Emmy nomination for “Barry” in 2019 and is likely to be in the mix for another nod this year. And the actor has no regrets about the path he took to get there.
