Before he was a cooler-than-cool guy on “Happy Days,” a hilariously incompetent lawyer on “Arrested Development,” or an eccentric acting coach on “Barry,” Henry Winkler struggled in school due to his dyslexia. While pursuing a career in acting as someone with dyslexia may seem difficult, there are countless talented performers—like the six on this list—who found success in the industry.
1. Billy Bob Thornton
Perhaps one of the most outspoken celebrities with dyslexia, Thornton is open about his struggles with his learning difference. “I was severely dyslexic, so I was just kind of known around school as a moron,” the Academy Award winner explained to Men’s Journal in 2018. “Nobody really encouraged me. Dyslexia drives you, because you’re trying to overcome this thing.”
In a recent interview, the “Landman” star told us that his dyslexia has sometimes helped him as an actor. “People who are dyslexic see things differently, and I sort of can speed-read and also I see things in sort of chunks,” he said.
2. Whoopi Goldberg
Like many children with undiagnosed dyslexia, Goldberg was accused of being lazy in her early years; but the future EGOT winner had an understanding mother who could see that her child thought differently. Speaking to the Child Mind Institute in 2016, Goldberg recalled growing up with an excellent memory and vivid visualizing skills that helped her succeed in school despite her trouble reading. Becoming an actor was a natural extension of these talents, though that doesn’t mean Goldberg hasn’t had to adapt to make it in entertainment. To memorize lines, Goldberg has someone else read them to her; when writing, she dictates and works with an editor.
The multitalented star of projects ranging from “The Color Purple” and “Ghost” to “The View” sees the advantages of the perspective dyslexia offers. She told Inqluded that her “brain sees and puts information in my head differently—sometimes more interestingly…than if I saw like everyone else.”
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3. Salma Hayek
Hayek has never been shy about discussing her learning differences. Growing up, she was a good student despite the apparent trouble she had reading. “I’m really a fast learner,” the actor-producer explained to WebMD in 2009. “I always was, which is maybe why in high school they didn’t realize I had dyslexia. I skipped years without studying too much.” Still, her dyslexia proved a major challenge when she moved to the U.S. and struggled to relearn the English she knew from her childhood schooling.
Her hard work paid off: After her breakout role in “Desperado” in 1995 and “From Dusk Till Dawn” in 1996, Hayek achieved critical acclaim in 2002 for producing and starring in the biopic “Frida.” The highly influential actor recognizes that she approaches her work differently than others in her field because of her dyslexia, but that’s not a bad thing. “Some people read really fast, but you’ll ask them questions about the script and they’ll forget,” she told WebMD. “I take a long time to read a script, but I read it only once.”
Becoming an Actor With Dyslexia: Challenges, Advice, and Support4. Octavia Spencer
“I was a dyslexic child and am a dyslexic adult; that doesn't really mean that you're not intelligent—it just means that your brain functions differently,” said Academy Award–winning actor and children’s author Spencer in an interview with WENN. Spencer knew she had dyslexia from an early age, but thanks to an abundance of support from her family and teachers who helped her realize her strengths, that didn’t keep her from pursuing her passion. After a decade of small roles in movies ranging from “Never Been Kissed” to “Halloween II,” Spencer made it big with her award-winning role in “The Help,” and she has continued to dazzle in movies like “Hidden Figures” and “The Shape of Water.” She also made her authorial debut with the children’s novel series “Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective,” and has taken on more producing roles over the years, including the 2018 Best Picture winner “Green Book.”
In a 2016 actresses roundtable for the Los Angeles Times, Spencer explained that her learning differences make her particularly strong as a producer. “I’m a puzzle person,” she said. “I’m dyslexic, and the way that I learn through my process is very different. Everything is a puzzle. And that’s the way I see producing.”
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5. Channing Tatum
Growing up with dyslexia, Tatum received some invaluable advice from his mother: “Be a sponge.” The “Blink Twice” star took this to heart, telling T, per People, that in his early modeling days “I just learned everything I could from anybody who knew something I didn’t.”
While finding great mentors was one key to Tatum’s success, the actor still struggles with certain aspects of his career thanks to his dyslexia. Tatum revealed in a 2015 Reddit AMA that his appearance on “SNL” “was by far the most terrifying thing that I’d ever done, because there is a lot of reading involved, and I don’t read that well out loud.”
Preparedness is key for Tatum, something he discussed on “The Howard Stern Show” while recalling his time filming “The Hateful Eight” alongside Samuel L. Jackson. Veteran actor Jackson—who struggled with a speech impediment as a child—told Tatum that it’s better to come at it from a broader place of understanding. “And so I stopped learning lines and more [about] what the actual conversation was about,” Tatum said.
6. Henry Winkler
Speaking to CBS in 2017, Winkler recalled that his German parents would call him “Dummer Hund,” German for “dumb dog,” and that both they and his teachers were convinced Winkler was just a lazy student. The “Happy Days” star didn’t let this stop him, though. He was eventually accepted into Yale’s School of Drama with an improvised Shakespearean monologue, a task he found much simpler than trying to read a script.
Beyond his acting career, Winkler co-created (with Lin Oliver) the 12-book children’s series “Here’s Hank” to encourage young readers who, like the author and main character, struggle with reading. He’s also refreshingly open about the daily triumphs and struggles of living with the learning difference, telling Today, “[Dyslexia] is a passion because it is something that empowers me. Something that embarrasses me. Something that I didn’t know I had. Something you don’t overcome.”
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