Sometimes all it takes is a good pair of glasses. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Golden Globe nominee Jennifer Aniston reveals how a trip to an optometrist in her twenties gave her a new view of herself.
The actress, who is starring in the new film Cake, remembers how a simple test revealed a new diagnosis: dyslexia. After she was only able to answer 3 of 10 questions about a paragraph, “they put a computer on my eyes, showing where my eyes went when I read. My eyes would jump four words and go back two words.”
The world-famous Mayo Clinic defines dyslexia as a “specific reading disability.” It can occur in people of otherwise completely normal intelligence and sometimes is not recognized until the person reaches adulthood, as in Aniston’s case. While there is no cure, Aniston for one was more relieved than upset about the news.
“I thought I wasn’t smart,” she admits. “I just couldn’t retain anything. Now I had this great discovery. I felt like all of my childhood trauma-dies, tragedies, dramas were explained.”
Aniston also feels that her academic struggles were a blessing in disguise. Frustrated by her difficulties with reading, she focused instead on developing both her lifelong love of art and her innate humor, as well, of course, as discovering an interest in acting.
Despite her challenges with a learning disability, Aniston considers herself in a very good place. “I’ve cried deeply,” she reveals, but now, “I feel very happy. Life is extraordinary.”
Cake, which stars Aniston as a woman dealing with chronic pain, opens in theatres on Friday January 23.
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