To name but a few, famous dyslexic actors of today include Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom, Keanu Reeves and Keira Knightley.
It’s interesting that children and adults with dyslexia often turn to acting.
It would seem that the reason often stems from the more lateral thinking abilities of someone with dyslexia. For instance, heightened social perception and the ability to accurately imitate and observe individuals, are thought to be aids in allowing actors to really get into the mind of the character they are playing.
According to Keira Knightley, the strength of mind that came from dealing with adversity in her school years made her the accomplished actress she is today.
Without fail every film production that Keira Knightley has touched in recent years has turned to gold. She is one of the most highly respected British actresses of the moment, as well as a fashion icon.
The 26-year-old star of Pirates of the Caribbean, Bend it Like Beckham and The Duchess said that reading Emma Thompson’s screenplay for Sense and Sensibility and imagining how she would make it into a film, really helped her to deal with her learning disability.
From then on, Emma Thompson was her role model and motivation.
She once said in an interview: “I did a film called The Hole when I was 16 and, when it came out, a couple of the popular girls at school said, quite loudly, ‘She’s in a crap movie, so it doesn’t count’,
“It was rude and I was upset, but if you let that stuff bother you, you’re going to be in for a tough time. I wasn’t popular at school. I learned to let those comments wash over me. I toughened up quite quickly.”
She eventually left her mixed comprehensive school in Teddington with a string of GCSEs, some at A* grade, having struck a deal with her parents that she would study every day to overcome her dyslexia if they got her an agent.