Joseph Gatt: ator com alopecia areata universal já estrelou séries como Game of Thrones

Conheça Joseph Gatt, o ator britânico com AA universal que já participou de séries conhecidas como Game of Thrones, filmes como Thor e Star Trek e inspira diversos personagens de video games. "We are all so damned amazing."

Joseph Gatt nasceu em Londres e durante a adolescência foi diagnosticado com daltonismo (distúrbio em que os pacientes não conseguem reconhecer ou diferenciar algumas cores). O diagnóstico o impediu de seguir seu sonho que na época era ser piloto da RAF (Força aérea real britânica). A descoberta, segundo o ator, foi possivelmente o gatilho para o início do quadro de alopecia areata universal. Aos 14 anos, o ator perdeu todos os cabelos e pelos do corpo.

Em 2016, em carta aberta publicado no seu facebook, Joseph Gatt contou sobre o sue diagnóstico e sua experiência com a alopecia areata.

Segue abaixo a transcrição da carta (em Inglês):

"So, as most of you all know, I have no hair (surprise!) No hair at all. What a lot of you may not know is why. Strangely, even some people who've known me for many years don't really know. Well, I have a condition called alopecia. Actually the full name for my condition is alopecia areata universalis. This is the most severe form of the disease which causes complete body hair loss, as opposed to basic alopecia that can be simple bald patches or even thinning hair. Yep. I am as smooth as a dolphin from head to toe (that was a reference for The Walking Dead people out there.)

Without boring y'all with details, alopecia is an autoimmune condition where the body attacks the hair follicles. Yep, my body is protecting me from dangerous hair growth! LOL. There is not too much known about this condition, and there is no known cure. But it is not contagious. It doesn't affect me in any other way. I just have no hair. You would think this wouldn't be too much of a life hassle, especially compared to people with serious physical disabilities, but, like other conditions which change one's outward appearance from society's perceptions of "normal" or "pretty," it can be a very emotionally distressing & tough thing to live with.

When I was 14 years old, over the period of about 5 months, all of my thick, black hair fell out. Just like that I went from having Rambo hair, to Kojak hair! And like people who suffer from things like albinism, vitiligo, visible/deforming birth marks, heterochromia, chronic acne, etc., I was ostracized, teased, bullied, discriminated against, looked at sideways, and called "ugly" or "weird" shamelessly to my face (some of these things still happen. Yep.) I didn't know who I was or what I was going to do. I had lost any identity that I had and wanted to die, seeing no future for being ugly and weird. Well, It's not like I was terribly pretty with the hair. After many years of searching and feeling sorry for myself, being the victim, hiding from people and myself, I decided to reach out to life... well, it was either that or totally give up on life... and anyone who knows me even a little, knows that "giving up" is NOT in my nature. So over the next few years I totally recreated myself. Rediscovered who I was and what life meant to me. I fought and battled to achieve even the simplest things that others took for granted, but I didn't care, and anyone who stood in my way or wasn't on my side was discarded or dismissed. It was harsh and painful, but I could only move forward by treating each stage as a battle.

Now, many years later, some of those prejudices and discrimination are still there. Especially in this world that I work in. A world that is purely visual and promotes & accepts the pretty and discards and holds down the different. But, through fighting tooth and nail, I (like some others,) have created a successful career & life in a world that didn't want me. There is still more work to do. Adventures to be had. Doors to be crushed. People to win over. Roles to enjoy... and it's my responsibility to spread to the world and show people what alopecia is, and that it's ok to have it, and to know people who have it. We are the same as you. We are healthy, funny, intelligent, talented, loving, determined, sensitive, athletic, passionate, and all the other human things there are to be.

I am NOT alopecia. I am not from alopecia. I don't preach alopecia. I don't say alopecia is best or that others should have it. It is just a thing I have and it is part of me. But it has become a guiding light in my life. A beacon of direction. A source of self. A reminder of thankfulness for everything I have right now, and the person I've grown up to be.

Alopecia has given me a career I might not have had without it, playing some of the most interesting characters ever. But I hope that soon I will be cast because I'm an actor who brings more than just a bald muscly guy to the screen, the same way an actor of color hopes to be cast for their acting, and not just for their color. Because we/I am so much more, and I cannot wait to show you.

Anyway, this post is now way too long and people probably won't read it all... but my ending note is to not be afraid. If you have alopecia, do not be afraid of it. Own it. Grow with it. Do NOT let it own you. If you see or know someone with alopecia, let them know that you see them as a human being, and not just someone who has alopecia.

Peace out. Show thanks and gratefulness. Share a hug or two. We are all so damned amazing."