Inspirational Actors with ADHD

CF Blog | March 20

There is a common misconception that people with ADHD are unable to focus well enough to complete tasks. But many highly successful actors and performers with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder prove that, despite the challenges associated with their symptoms, their dedication to focus on what they're passionate about can lead to remarkable success.

ADHD is defined as a mental disorder of the neurodevelopmental type. Symptoms of can include being easily distracted, missing details, being forgetful, having trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, fidgeting, and having difficulty sitting still. About 30-50-percent of people diagnosed in childhood continue to have symptoms into their adult years.

Tatum Channing is among the actors who have publicly shared personal experiences with ADHD. In an interview with T, The New York Times Style Magazine, the Magic Mike star revealed he struggled with ADHD as well as dyslexia growing up. "I have never considered myself a very smart person, for a lot of reasons," he stated. He described his persistent troubles with learning and fitting in during his school years saying, "You get lumped in classes with kids with autism and Down syndrome, and you look around and say, 'Okay, so this is where I'm at.' Or you get put in the typical classes and you say, 'All right, I'm obviously not like these kids either,' So you're kind of nowhere. You're just different."

Now one of Hollywood's top-earning actors as well as a producer, Tatum expresses his belief that the education system is broken. "If we can streamline a multibillion-dollar company, we should be able to help kids who struggle the way I did," he insists.

Adam Carolla's Take on Luck

CF Blog | March 17

After meeting Jimmy Kimmel in 1994, it would seem Adam Carolla's career blossomed due to that lucky encounter. Indeed, the multi-talented Carolla has acquired quite a resume; he can boast being a comedian, best-selling author, radio personality, actor, television host, podcaster, and director. But Adam Carolla most certainly does not attribute his success to luck. Instead he insists he earned everything that's good in his life. He explains:

"Jimmy did not come to my house. I went to Jimmy's work. And I couldn't get into it because it was a radio station and it was locked up. And I came back the next morning and I got in, and I found him and made my own luck."

In the 1990s, Carolla had accumulated work experience as a carpet cleaner, a skilled carpenter, a traffic school instructor, and he became a boxing trainer in his free time. He also studied with the improv group The Groundlings. When Carolla heard the KROQ-FM Kevin and Bean radio program was arranging a fight between two of their regulars--one of which was Jimmy Kimmel AKA "Jimmy the Sports Guy"--Carolla saw an opportunity. The 30-year-old volunteered his services as a boxing trainer to Kimmel. Jimmy took him up on the offer, and in turn, the two would develop a strong friendship and business partnership. Right away, Carolla procured a recurring role on Kevin and Bean as the crotchety woodshop teacher, Mr. Birchum. A few years later, the two men co-produced and became co-stars of Comedy Central's The Man Show.

Adam believes that all people are inherently unlucky. But he views this as a good thing. After all, he argues that if he really thought he was lucky, he'd probably still be sitting on his futon in his North Hollywood apartment scratching lottery tickets.