Celebrities with dyslexia

Orlando Bloom Orlando Bloom was tested and diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 7 years old and childhood was never easy. "I had to work three times as hard to get two-thirds of the way,” Bloom announced at a conference on dyslexia hosted by the Child Mind Institute. (AP)

Tom Cruise Severely struggling with dyslexia, Cruise did not excel in school and actually joined a seminary when he was 14, according to the website Being Dyslexic Clearly, his ambition of becoming a priest did not last long. Cruise picked up acting in high school, and the rest is history… (REUTERS)

Whoopi Goldberg Whoopi Goldberg was not diagnosed with dyslexia until she was an adult. In an interview with the Academy of Achievement, Goldberg described growing up with this condition. "When I was a kid they didn't call it dyslexia. They called it... you know, you were slow, or you were retarded, or whatever. And so, I learned from a guy who was running a program who I met one day and he had written out on a board a sentence. And I said to him, 'You know, I can't read that.' And he said, 'Why not?' And I said, 'Because it doesn't make any sense to me.' So he said, 'Well, write down what you see under each. Whatever you see, write exactly what you see underneath.' And so, he brought me to letters by coordinating what I saw to something called an A, or a B, or a C, or a D, and that was pretty cool."

Keanu Reeves The actor said when he was growing up he had a lot of trouble reading. "And so I wasn't a good student at all," he's quoted as saying. "Eventually I got fed up, and I didn't bother to finish high school.”

Keira Knightley Kiera Knightley’s dyslexia significantly affected her young acting career. Knightley told the San Francisco Chronicle, “I remember going in for an audition when I was 8, and it was the most excruciating experience because I couldn't read my lines.” With the help of her teachers, parents and strong determination to be an actress, Knightley overcame her dyslexia by age 11. (AP)

Vince Vaughn Vince Vaughn told Contact Music that he is grateful for his dyslexia because, although he was not a very good student in high school, he learned perseverance through overcoming his learning disability.

Cher "I never read in school. I got really bad grades — Ds and Fs and Cs in some classes, and A's and B's in other classes. In the second week of the 11th grade, I just quit," Cher is quoted as saying. "When I was in school, it was really difficult. Almost everything I learned, I had to learn by listening. My report cards always said that I was not living up to my potential."

Patrick Dempsey Patrick Dempsey was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of 12. "I think it's made me who I am today," Dempsey told Barbara Walters in a TV special.

Kurt Cobain Lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana was rumored to suffer from dyslexia.

Bruce Jenner If I had not been dyslexic," Jenner told KidsRunning. "I would not have won the Olympic decathlon games. Dyslexia made me outwork the next guy. But it was a side effect of dyslexia, my self-esteem-my perception of myself, which was my biggest problem of all; bigger than the perceptual problems of dyslexia itself, and if I had not been dyslexic, I wouldn't have needed sports."

Jewel "Mostly, having dyslexia made me feel like I would never be interested in life again," the singer is quoted as saying on famousdyslexicpeople.com. "I used to love reading when I was little, and then it became difficult and I didn’t understand why. I thought, what a bummer, my passion all drained out of me. So when I found out I had dyslexia it was like, oh, that’s what it was." Jewel said her mother was very supportive and encouraged her to follow her dream.

Tony Bennett "I’ve always had a bit of dyslexia, so it’s very hard for me to read proficiently," Bennett said. "It’s very difficult. My eyes bounce, so it’s difficult for me to follow musically that way. I have to do it instinctively and intuitively. I just have to work a lot slower. It comes a lot slower. But good learning takes a long time. To really learn something, you have to keep doing it until it appears effortless. So it takes time."