Anthony Carrigan

In an era where comic book culture was all the rage, Anthony Carrigan had the good-fortune to be cast as villainous Victor Zsasc in the CW hit "Gotham" (2014-19). It was precisely the boost that his career needed, and that was only made possible after Carrigan learned how to reframe a perceived negative into something positive and productive.

At age three, he was diagnosed with Alopecia areata, an auto-immune disease that tricks the body into attacking itself. He was 26 when his hair began to fall out. It was a common symptom of the disease, but still one that initially terrified the young actor. Carrigan kept his insecurities compartmentalized, carefully concealing his condition with wigs and make-up. That became unsustainable, however, when the hair loss began to outpace his amateur cosmetology skills. His struggle was ultimately recognized by sympathetic castmates, whose resulting support and encouragement provided Carrigan with the push he needed to evolve both personally and professionally.

No longer would he waste his energy working in vain to look like every other actor at the local auditions; Carrigan would learn to embrace his condition and redirect that energy toward his goal of achieving success. So he shaved his head. Almost immediately, his phone started to ring. Now that Carrigan felt comfortable in his own skin, his performances took on a commanding air of authenticity. His family in the film industry had proven to be a critical factor in his personal transformation.

Though some actors scoff at the prospect of being typecast, Carrigan leaned into it. A recurring role on "Parenthood" (NBC 2010-15) followed, but it was Carrigan's turn as Kyle Nimbus (aka The Mist) on "The Flash" (CW 2014-) that yielded concrete results to his new approach. It helped to secure him an appearance on a 2016 episode of "The Blacklist" (NBC 2013-), and paved the way to his breakthrough role as Zsasc, a serial-killer in the rogues gallery of Batman's adversaries, on "Gotham" (Fox 2014-19).

If Carrigan was going to be the bad guy, he was going to have fun with it. Perhaps the finest example of this came with Carrigan's casting in "Barry" (HBO 2018-), a darkly comic series about a hitman (Bill Hader) who discovers a love of acting. Carrigan played NoHo Hank, a ruthless Chechen mobster whose unrelentingly positive outlook was hilariously at odds with his violent lifestyle.