Zack Gottsagen

Zack Gottsagen is a professional actor, dancer, and disability rights advocate. Gottsagen’s talent, passion, motivation, and perseverance have been the impetus for building his expanding performing arts career. Gottsagen has won many awards, including the Global Down Syndrome Foundation Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocate Award; Outstanding Breakout Performance from Crested Butte Film Festival; the Rising Star Award from the Palm Springs International Film Festival; the Newcomer Award from the Hollywood Critics Association; and the Breakthrough Entertainer Award from the Associated Press. Gottsagen presented the Media Access Award in 2019 to the producers of “The Peanut Butter Falcon.” At the 2020 Academy Awards, he became the first person with Down syndrome to present an Oscar!

Gottsagen is known for many films, including "Peanut Butter Falcon," "Night Always Comes," "God Save the Queens," "At Last," and "Bulletproof Jackson". Gottsagen was fully included in his public education and attended Bak Middle School and Dreyfoos School of the Arts in Palm Beach County as a theatre major. Gottsagen has lived on his own since he was 21 years old and has been consistently employed since he was 16. Gottsagen has Down syndrome and enjoys public speaking and encouraging others to follow their dreams.