Keira Knightley Praises Daughter’s ‘Absolutely Amazing’ Memory as She Reveals Her Dyslexia Diagnosis
Aug. 7 2024, Published 3:10 p.m. ET
Like mother, like daughter.
British actress Keira Knightley recently shared that, like herself, one of her two daughters has dyslexia, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Knightley, 39, is married to musician James Righton, 40, and they have two daughters – Edie, 9, and Delilah, 4.
Knightley, who was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was 6, was speaking about the difficulties she had memorizing lines for films, adding: “I basically record it and listen to it and listen to it, and that's how I learn it. But now we have a dyslexic kid and she's doing the same thing. Her memory is absolutely amazing.”
While she did not share which daughter was diagnosed, but said: “She’ll memorize the book, basically. It’s amazing.”
Knightley also opened up on how her own diagnosis actually helped her in becoming an actor the Ruthie's Table 4 podcast. The Bend it Like Beckham star shared: “The school said, ‘Look she can’t read at all and we need a carrot to dangle in front of her, do you know if there’s something that she wants?’”
The Pirates of the Caribbean star then revealed her parents told the school: “Well, she wants an agent.”
They later told her: “If your grades go up, you’re allowed to keep on acting, but if they go down, then it stops.”
She added: “It did go up, though. It was a carrot!”
Later in the podcast, the Pride and Prejudice star also revealed what she’s currently working on: “I just finished a Netflix six-part series called Black Doves, which is about Tory MP's wife who is actually a deep undercover secret agent selling government secrets.
"I'm basically a complete two-faced psychopath and I've been having an affair and the person I've been having an affair with, gets murdered, and my best friend played by Ben Whishaw, who's gorgeous and he's an assassin, and we go on a murderous rampage trying to avenge my boyfriend.”
This isn't the first time Knightley has spoken about her diagnosis with dyslexia. She previously revealed reading the Oscar-winning script for Sense and Sensibility, written by Emma Thompson, helped her overcome some of her struggles.
She said: “My mum, who worked with her on Sense and Sensibility got me a copy of the screenplay ... And I was – am – dyslexic and the way she got me over it was to say: 'If Emma Thompson couldn't read, she'd make ------- sure she'd get over it, so you have to start reading, because that's what Emma Thompson would do.’”
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