David Arquette opens up on how dyslexia has led to struggles in his career
David Arquette struggles to learn lines because of his dyslexia and can read a script "a thousand times" because it sinks in
David Arquette struggles to learn lines because of his dyslexia.
The 52-year-old actor was diagnosed with the learning difficulty that primarily affects the skills involved in accurate reading and spelling just over a decade ago after struggling throughout his childhood and admitted that he can read a script "a thousand times" because it sinks in.
Speaking on the 'Off the Vine' podcast, he explained: "Yeah. I'm still, like, I can go over a script a thousand times on my own. I can still not have it when I walk on the set until I hear the people say it and we run it a couple times. I had this one scene where it was, like, cut it into three scenes. But when I got to the set, they were like, ‘We'll put them all together.’ And just the sheer putting-them-all-together just scrambled my brain."
"The 'Scream' star recalled the time he appeared in the leading role of a play and almost had a "mental break" because he had so much trouble with getting his lines down.
He said: "I did this play and I played Sherlock Holmes and I had an English accent and it was — oh, wow. I should never play that role. Just so not right for the bad kind of character...it was a comedic version, but still.
"But it was so hard and I wasn't off book yet. They invited, like, all of these schools. And the whole place is filled, and I'm not comfortable with the lines yet. I was so nervous, and, oh, man. It was like I had nearly had a mental break at that point. It was so scary."
