Keira Knightley shares her creative method to overcome Dyslexia

Keira Knightley is opening up about the creative method that helps her manage dyslexia while memorizing her acting lines.

During her recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show on Oct. 31, The Aftermath actress shared that she often turns to drawing while listening to recordings of her scripts a technique that helps her retain dialogue more effectively.

According to Cleveland Dyslexia is a learning disability that makes reading and language-related tasks harder.

“I draw a lot anyway. I am dyslexic, so I find learning lines quite difficult,” Knightley explained, adding that her sketches, often “old men with wrinkles”, keep her focused.

“When I’m listening to [my lines], I’m drawing the whole time. I think they have to be quite detailed, otherwise the lines don’t go in my head.”

The 40-year-old actress, who illustrated her new children’s book I Love You Just the Same, said this is the first time she’s drawn something other than her usual wrinkled characters.

“This was the first time I had to do something not old men with wrinkles,” she laughed.

Knightley was diagnosed with dyslexia at age six, an experience that, she says, inspired her to pursue acting.

“The school said, ‘She can’t read at all, and we need a carrot to dangle in front of her,’” she recalled on the Ruthie’s Table 4 podcast last year. 

The Duchess actress has also revealed that one of her two daughters with husband James Righton shares her dyslexia, calling her child’s memory “absolutely amazing.”