Keira Knightley shares rare insight into her battle with dyslexia and how the learning difficulty affects her movie career

by

Keira Knightley recently revealed how her dyslexia affects her and how she’s developed a special method for memorizing her lines.

In an interview on Friday’s The Graham Norton Show, actress Riley Keough, 40, revealed she relies on pictures to help her memorize lines for a role.

Dyslexia is a frequent learning challenge that can make it hard to read, write, and spell, and also affects how information is processed.

I do a lot of drawing, and because I’m dyslexic, I find it helps me learn my lines by listening to the script while I draw. The more intricate the drawing, the better I remember my lines.

Oh my gosh, Keira Knightley wrote a children’s book! I knew she was amazing! She said it all started with her drawing – she’s always been so creative! And it’s for her adorable daughters, Edie and Delilah! Isn’t that the sweetest thing ever? She shares them with her husband, James Righton, and I just can’t get over how perfect this all is! I’m already pre-ordering a copy, of course!

My oldest daughter really disliked going to sleep, so for months I drew her a picture each night to cheer her up when she woke up. Eventually, she started requesting very specific things in the drawings, like a bird to take her baby brother away! That’s when I decided I needed to write a story to get her ‘baby’ back.

Keira recently shared a personal detail about her family: her children, who both love football, aren’t interested in watching her famous movie, Bend It Like Beckham.

I’ve been trying to get my daughters to watch, but they’re not interested – they’d rather watch the Women’s Euros!

The actress recently embraced the label ‘nepo baby’ – someone with famous parents – and stated she isn’t bothered by the term, during an appearance on Giovanna Fletcher’s ‘Happy Mum Happy Baby’ podcast this week.

She credited her famous parents for giving her the ‘connections’ at the beginning of her career.

Keira Knightley comes from a creative family; her mother is playwright and screenwriter Sharman MacDonald, and her father is a stage actor, Will Knightley.

She admitted she wasn’t sure if she was annoyed by the label, but suggested she benefits from nepotism. She explained her first agent was a close friend of her mother’s, and that person still represents her today.

It’s definitely true that connections exist in the entertainment industry, and many actors I know come from families with a history in the business – it’s often a generational profession.

I believe this is partly because it’s more than just a job – it’s a complete lifestyle, very different from traditional work hours.

Sharman, age 74, is a playwright who has written several plays, including “The Beast” (1986), “Night Night” (1988), and “Soft Fall The Sounds Of Eden” (2004).

She also wrote the screenplay for The Edge Of Love (2008), which her daughter Keira starred in.

Keira’s passion for acting comes from her father, Will, age 79, who established London’s Half Moon Theatre.

Will has also done some acting on TV, with small roles in shows like The Bill, A Touch of Frost, and Midsomer Murders.

When asked if she’d be okay with her children following in her footsteps and benefiting from nepotism, she explained that neither of them currently seem interested in the same career path. However, she added that if they did choose that path, they would have to navigate the challenges that come with it.

They’ll definitely come up with a solution. With any job, getting some initial support is helpful, but ultimately, you need to deliver results, or you won’t last long.

The Graham Norton Show BBC One and iPlayer Friday 31st October 10.40pm 

Read More

2025-10-31 18:55