How Linda Hunt Achieved Hollywood Success Despite Being Disabled

Linda Hunt’s path in the film industry has not been an easy one. While some celebrities have almost all the doors open to success, others need to work harder to be accepted, and this is the case of Linda, an actress who had to fight against many prejudices and, during this process, discovered new ways of dealing with with difficulties and disappointments.

We, from awesome.clubwe love reviewing Linda Hunt’s films and that’s why we decided to research a little more about her beautiful trajectory in the film industry.

When Linda Hunt was just 6 months old, her parents noticed that something about her was different; as her development seemed slower, she was taken to the hospital by her mother, eventually being diagnosed with a form of congenital hypothyroidism, which would eventually make her have to be hospitalized.

However, Linda’s mother did not want to accept the prognosis and decided to work with her daughter every day to strengthen her fine motor skills. By the time she entered school, Linda had progressed a lot, but she still wasn’t like her peers. From the first day of class she felt like an outsider, and even a teacher made her feel uncomfortable. “People either wanted to take care of me or they were pushing me, you know?” Linda said. And she added: “They made fun of me a lot”.

“Since I was a little girl I knew I wanted to act, but I didn’t know it would be so difficult”, revealed Linda to a newspaper in 1991. It all started when she was 8 years old and saw a performance of Peter Pan at the theater. It was at that moment that she realized what she wanted for her life: to have the power to make others believe what was in her head. When she revealed her interest to her parents, they talked to voice and acting teachers and sent their daughter to the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago.

However, around this time the actress’ doctor discovered that instead of congenital hypothyroidism she had pituitary dwarfism, also known as pituitary dwarfism, a condition where the pituitary gland does not release enough growth hormone. Linda was 1.50 m tall, weighed 36 kg and for 10 years tried various treatments to improve her condition, something that unfortunately never worked.

During her studies, her teachers tried to encourage her to pursue a career as a director instead of an actress, because they thought her condition might make her life difficult.

“I was very young and very lost. I didn’t even try to act professionally, which would have meant getting an agent and auditioning. I just wasn’t capable of any of that, I wasn’t emotionally ready.”

Luckily, Linda had many friends who helped and gave her moral support early in her career. She got a job as a stagehand in small off-Broadway theaters. However, after 3 years of working and not achieving much, she started to doubt herself. Some time later, she decided to move back in with her parents, and that’s when everything changed.

While she was at her parents’ house, her acting teacher made sure to show that acting was something important to her, and it was also her great talent. “I was a little lost, but this advice brought me back.” Shortly after, she started auditioning.

Linda debuted professionally with the play Hamlet, and over the next 2 years she worked on many others. One day, she got a call from her agent, who said that director Peter Weir was looking for someone to play the role of Billy Kwan (an Asian family photographer with dwarfism) in the movie The Year We Live in Danger.

“When I met the casting director, I asked, ‘You’re going to rewrite the role for a woman, right?’ To which he replied: ‘No’. I thought it was all wonderfully absurd and just laughed,” Linda said.

However, after meeting with the director, she realized that she could not refuse the role. “It was one of those absurd moments when you have to follow the dance even though it doesn’t all make sense”. And the role was very important for her to understand how far her potential could go. In the end, she ended up becoming the first person to win an Oscar playing a character of the opposite gender.

Linda was asked to star in many plays, but she always had to settle for supporting roles in movies. “I work harder than I thought I would, but less than I’d like. I still feel frustrated about my life and career and so I do analysis, but it won’t last forever. I go into phases of total despair and darkness. But I always think that we can find answers to our questions”, she sincerely revealed in an interview.

Although her career has not taken the expected leap, today Linda is one of the best known people in Hollywood. Throughout her career, she has appeared in films such as Dune, Kindergarten Cop, Dragonfly, among many others. And she has also built a successful career as a broadcaster and on television. Her role on the series NCIS: Los Angeles earned her two Teen Choice Awards.

Linda’s story shows very well that through hard work and a positive attitude we can achieve great things in our lives, regardless of the difficulties.

Do you think Linda’s career would have been easier or more difficult if she started today and not in the 70’s? Leave your opinion in the comments.