This Morning viewers heartbroken as actor with Down's Syndrome reveals he was told his face 'wasn't marketable'

7 October 2019, 12:24 | Updated: 4 November 2019, 15:04

Zack was told he would never make it as an actor. Picture: ITV

Actor Zack Gottsagen shocked Holly and Phil after revealing he was told his face ‘isn’t marketable’.

Up and coming actor Zack Gottsagen appeared on This Morning today to discuss his role in The Peanut Butter Falcon.

The 34-year-old - who has Down's Syndrome - sat alongside director of the movie Tyler Nilson, as the pair opened up about the struggles Zack faced while trying to make it in Hollywood.

Shockingly, Tyler revealed he was actually offered money to replace Zack with another actor who doesn’t have a disability.

Talking to presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, he confessed: “We were told the movie we made with a Down's Syndrome actor in it wouldn’t be marketable because Zack doesn’t have a marketable face.

Tyler revealed he was offered money to replace Zack. Picture: ITV

“We were also told it wouldn’t get on streaming services and people wouldn’t buy tickets and go to watch it in the cinemas.”

After refusing to budge on his concept, Tyler went ahead with the film anyway, casting huge actors such as Shia LaBeouf and Dakota Johnson to star alongside Zack.

The movie has now become a Hollywood sensation, making a whopping $19million in the US so far.

Phillip, 57, told the pair: “It’s like a big ‘two fingers up’ to those people”.

And it looks like viewers agree, as one fan Tweeted: “Find it absolutely barbaric that disabilities can mean you are ‘less marketable’ in 2019. How can these people get away with it? Shine like a star.”

The Peanut Butter Falcon follows the heartwarming story of a young man with Down’s Syndrome who runs away from home to chase his dream of becoming a professional wrestler.

He ends up joining wrestling school The Salt Water Redneck and later meets Tyler, an outlaw on the run who becomes his coach and friend.

“After running away from a residential nursing home to pursue his dream of becoming a pro wrestler, a man who has Down syndrome befriends an outlaw who becomes his coach and ally,” the film's synopsis reads.

The movie was written specifically for Zack after Tyler and his directing partner Michael Shwartz met him at a camp for actors with disabilities.