6 Celebrities Who Didn’t Let Dyslexia Stop Them from Becoming Famous

Bella Thorne

Bella Thorne is arguably THE face for dyslexia among young people. And, because of this, she takes her role as an advocate for awareness very seriously and speaks openly about the disability whenever she can.

Dyslexia has affected my life in a big way," she told Just Jared Jr. "At first, I was really afraid and self conscious because I didn’t feel like I was as smart as other kids and couldn’t read the way they did. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t do so many things as well as other kids, and why I was learning so much slower.

Even though she was "confused about how [she] felt upon initial diagnosis, the actress eventually learned to embrace the disability because "quirks are...what makes you who you are.”

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Channing Tatum

Even though Channing was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia at a young age, he felt that the education system did nothing to help him success.

"I have never considered myself a very smart person, for a lot of reasons,” he told The New York Times' T Magazine. “You get lumped in classes with kids with autism and Down syndrome, and you look around and say, ‘Okay, so this is where I’m at.' Or, you get put in the typical classes and you say, ‘All right, I’m obviously not like these kids either.’ So you’re kind of nowhere. You’re just different."

Channing is passionate about using his celebrity to bring awareness to learning disabilities and "help kids who struggle[d] the way I did.”

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Caitlyn Jenner

Before Caitlyn Jenner became known for her famous family, she was associated with being an Olympic gold medalist and motivational speaker. In fact, it was dyslexia that motivated the now-65-year-old star to get into sports, something that she excelled at quickly.

"If I wasn't dyslexic, I probably wouldn't have won the Games," she said. "If I had been a better reader, then that would have come easily, sports would have come easily... and I never would have realized that the way you get ahead in life is hard work."

Caitlyn also revealed that her dyslexia made her 2015 ESPYs speech all the more difficult, as she had to read from a teleprompter.

As a dyslexic kid, my biggest fear in life was to go in front of the class and read because I just wasn’t very good at it –- and that stays with you through your whole life."

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Orlando Bloom

When asked about growing up with dyslexia, the Pirates of the Caribbean star told a Child Mind Institute, "It was a struggle. It was a lot of work. I had to work three times as hard to get two-thirds of the way."

Orlando also revealed that the "frustrating" disability made him "feel stupid," and that it's important to "teach [kids] anything is attainable. Let them run with what you see is whatever they need to run with."

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Jennifer Aniston

During a very personal sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter, Jen revealed that her un-diagnosed dyslexia made her feel stupid throughout her childhood.

"I thought I wasn't smart," she said. "I just couldn't retain anything."

Once she got diagnosed in her early 20s, the actress said she "felt like all of [her] childhood trauma-dies, tragedies, and dramas were explained."

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Keira Knightley

After being shut down when she asked her parents for an agent at the age of three, the Academy-Award-winning actress decided to use her learning disability to her advantage -- promising to study hard in exchange for an agent.

"I was diagnosed when I was six," she told The Daily Mail. "I worked hard to get the better of it and by the time I got to secondary school, it was much better. I can read and write -- badly -- but I'm fine reading scripts. And I did leave school with starred As in my GCSEs!"

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