Ryan McCartan ‘Fired’ an Agent Who Discouraged Him From Disclosing He’s ‘Chronically Ill’

Ryan McCartan is opening up about his experience with Type 1 diabetes and how it affects his career as a Broadway performer. 

The actor, who is currently starring as Jay Gatsby in Broadway’s The Great Gatsby, has been open about his health from a young age after being diagnosed at 6 years old — and he plans to keep it that way. 

In an interview with People published Friday, October 9, McCartan said that he had an agent suggest he stay quiet about his diagnosis so that it wouldn’t hurt his career.

“We fired them,” McCartan said.  

McCartan, who began performing professionally as a child, has his mother to thank for teaching him that he shouldn’t hide his experience. In fact, she explained his Type 1 diabetes to people he worked with at the theater as a child so that they were well aware. 

“She grabbed my hand, and she brought me into the theater, and from that point on, it was always policy,” he said. “Everyone needs to know. From a child actor at 8 years old, forever, everyone knew.”

McCartan previously opened about his Type 1 diabetes in a video interview with Breakthrough T1D, explaining how a reaction he had as a child actor prompted his parents to speak openly about his health with everyone he worked with. 

“My mom picked me up for a meal break on a long tech rehearsal day,” McCartan recalled. “I administered my insulin for dinner, and I had just gotten a new video game.” 

Though his mother handed McCartan his food, he was so engrossed in the video game when he was in the car that he wasn’t paying attention to eating. 

“Suddenly, I just kind of vanished,” he recalled. “This was my first diabetic reaction. And my mom hands me the glucose tabs, and I can’t even open them. I remember [this] very, very distinctly. There was a Capri-Sun in the car, and my mom just squeezed it [in my mouth], and I started coming to.” 

“We parked the car in the parking lot of the theater, and my mom made the decision of: ‘Okay, we are going into the theater, and we are talking about this with everyone,’” he said. “Brilliant parenting.” 

McCartan told People that he currently has help from his dresser, Timmy Schues, who has access to the actor’s phone to check on his blood sugar levels. 

“Something goes wrong, I go off stage, I say, ‘I need sugar,’ and [Schues] has it for me,” said McCartan. “Theater is a team sport.” 

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