"School was always a bit tricky..."

As a teen, Orlando Bloom struggled with reading. But not because he didn't know how, rather he was diagnosed with the learning disability dyslexia. "It sounds like the plague. I just have difficulties recognizing some letters, so I had to work harder than other kids. School was always a bit tricky." When Orlando was trying to get into the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he had to confront the problem head on. With the help of his mom, Sonia, Orly was eventually able to read the works of Shakespeare with greater ease. And today, he's "mildly dyslexic." "Many people think dyslexic people are boneheads. Dyslexia doesn't equal a lack of intelligence," he says. "Don't laugh at your mates when they have problems with reading! Maybe they'll become movie stars and you'll want tickets to their premieres." A J-14 FYI: Orly's co-star Keira Knightly, Vin Diesel and Gwen Stefani are also dyslexic.