An actor with multiple TV credits has admitted to mutilating himself to gain roles in Hollywood.
Todd LaTourrette – who recently appeared in the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul – revealed that he cut off his own right arm during a ”psychotic episode” 17 years ago.
The actor, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, claims to be bipolar and says that he was not taking his medication at the time.
“I severed my hand with a Skil saw,” he told KOB4. ”The film industry obviously took a different angle. That I was different. And so they liked that,”
LaTourrette told casting agents that he was a war veteran and had injured himself while serving overseas. The lie helped him land various roles, including parts in Longmire (2014), A Bird of the Air (2011) and The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009).
“I was dishonourable,” he says now. "I’m killing my career by doing this, if anyone thinks this was for personal edification, that’s not the case.
“I’m ousting myself from the New Mexico Film Industry. And gladly so, just to say what I’ve said.”
LaTourrette hopes the admission might help someone else with mental health issues come forward for help: ”The power is in your hands to take your medication in the morning, or at night. So that, this, this discourse of my life doesn’t need to necessarily be yours. Because, it happens quick... it happens quick.”
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, please reach out to Samaritans and Mind for help and advice. Call Mind Infoline on 0300 123 3393.
