Greetings Earthlings! 🙂

As it’s been a few years since my first post about celebrities with autism, I’ve decided to write a follow up post to discuss some other celebrities who have since discussed their experiences of autism.

Sia

Australian pop star Sia recently divulged that she was on the spectrum, 2 years after her film ‘Music‘ received backlash for it’s depiction of autism and casting of neurotypical Maddie Ziegler as a nonverbal autist. She did not admit to being on the spectrum at the time, but said that the film was based on the experiences of a neurodivergent friend (I must check out this film for a future post).

Sir Anthony Hopkins

Two-time Oscar winning Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in 2014 when he was in his late 70s! The actor is quite dismissive of his autism status, calling neurodiversity a “fancy label” and says that he doesn’t feel very different after the diagnosis. He has said that autism impacts his ability to socially interact, but it also makes him quite focused which helps him in his acting career:

“I definitely look at people differently. I like to deconstruct, to pull a character apart, to work out what makes them tick and my view will not be the same as everyone else. I get offered a lot of controlling parts, maybe because that’s how people see me. And maybe I am very controlled because I’ve had to be. I don’t question it, I just take the parts because I’m an actor and that’s what I do.”

Elon Musk

Eccentric billionaire businessman Elon Musk has openly talked about his Aspergers diagnosis and how he was bullied as a child for being different, often struggling with social cues and literal thinking. His diagnosis has never held him back however, as he is now one of the wealthiest men in the world, and even became the first autistic host of Saturday Night Live (or at least the first person to admit it!). He often credits his brain as the driving force behind his success as his intense focus fuelled his specialist interest in science and technology, often spending entire nights happily programming on his computer.

Here’s a video of him talking about his experiences of autism:

Hannah Gadsby

Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby was diagnosed with autism in her late 20’s after a lifetime of struggling to fit in. She openly talks about her diagnosis in her comedy- a great way to both educate and help people see the lighter side of the spectrum. Here’s a clip from one of her Netflix specials:

She has also written a very detailed piece about her struggles with autism for the Guardian newspaper which is well worth the read: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/mar/19/hannah-gadsby-autism-diagnosis-little-out-of-whack

Wentworth Miller

Prison Break (remember that show? There’s a throwback!) and Legends of Tomorrow actor Wentworth Miller was diagnosed with autism during the pandemic in 2020 in his late 40s. He announced his diagnosis in 2021 on Instagram, telling the world of his struggles to get a formal diagnosis and how he is slowly educating himself on the world of autism.

Of his diagnosis Miller said:

“This isn’t something I’d change … immediately being autistic is central to who I am. To everything I’ve achieved/articulated.”

Dan Harmon

Writer and creator of shows like Community and Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon has self-diagnosed himself with Aspergers syndrome. When creating the character of Abed in Community and researching his character traits, Dan began to realise that he may be on the spectrum himself.

You can hear him discuss his experiences in an interview here:

Melanie Sykes

UK TV presenter and former model Melanie Sykes was diagnosed with autism in 2021 in her early 50s.

“I cannot begin to tell you the sense of relief this is for me and how much I celebrate this diagnosis. I now have a deeper understanding of myself, my life and the things I have endured.”

“I am wired a completely different way and I’m only just understanding it. Where I used to think ‘what’s wrong with me?’ now I know it’s everything that’s right with me.”

You can read more about her experiences in her book Illuminated: Autism & All The Things I’ve Left Unsaid and in the interview below:

Stephanie Preissner

Irish author and screenwriter Stephanie Preissner was diagnosed with autism in 2021 at the age of 34. She had always suspected that something was wrong, but never thought she might be autistic as the male experience fed to us in the media did not match her experiences (been there!). She had always done well in school with it’s structures and routines, but her mental health started to suffer in college as expectations were less clear. You can listen to a short interview with Stephanie about her experiences here:

Blindboy Boatclub

Now most of my international readers will not have heard of Blindboy Boatclub (one half of the Irish comedy hip hop duo The Rubberbandits) but his autism story is an interesting one. But before I get into it, for those of you wondering about his bizarre appearance, the podcaster, author and TV presenter famously wears plastic shopping bags on his face to conceal his identity 🤣. Blindboy was diagnosed with autism in his 30s following comments on his podcast from his neurodivergent listeners who remarked on how many of his worldviews aligned with their experiences of autism. Without his podcast, who knows if he would ever have been diagnosed! You can listen to his podcast talking about his diagnosis here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/intrapersonally-speaking/id1300577518?i=1000557413083

Just so my international readers can get an understanding of The Rubberbandits, here’s a video of their most popular parody from the peak of their fame:

Christine McGuinness

British model and TV personality Christine McGuinness was diagnosed with autism at the age of 33 having struggled throughout her teenage years, allowing her to finally understand why she is the way she is. Her 3 children are also autistic. She now advocates for greater visibility for women on the spectrum which you can see. in the video below:

Eminem

Chart topping rapper Eminem may also be on the spectrum. He has not openly discussed a formal diagnosis, but he has mentioned having Asperger’s syndrome in a couple of his songs which are famously influenced by his real life. He talks about Asperger’s in the opening lines of his 2013 song ‘Wicked Ways‘:

In interviews Eminem has talked about being very shy and awkward as a kid, often feigning illness to skip school so that he could stay home reading, writing poetry and drawing comic book characters.

It has also been suggested (but no confirmed diagnosis) that Vladamir Putin, Donald Trump, Lionel Messi and Bob Dylan also seem to demonstrate a number of autistic traits. Following the release of Christopher Nolan’s gripping biopic Oppenheimer, there has also been a lot of renewed speculation that the renowned physicist Robert Oppenheimer may also have been on the spectrum.

In addition, I’ve written separate posts about Greta Thunberg, Anne Hegarty and Kurt Cobain which you can also read about.

Looking at some of the names on this list, it’s starting to look cool to be autistic 😉

Hope you enjoyed this post dear Earthlings!

Have a lovely weekend! 🙂

Aoife