Bridgerton’s’ Luke Newton Opens Up About Thriving with Dyslexia and ADHD: ‘I’ve Found Effective Coping Mechanisms
Dearest readers. As the new season of Bridgerton is on our horizon, we’re ramping up to watch the love story that is Polin — our favourite middle child, Colin Bridgerton, and Ms Lady Whistledown herself, Penelope Featherington.
But back in the real-world, we’re also watching on as Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton navigate stardom on a completely different level. While we’ve watched them for two seasons now, their third year in the Ton is set to be quite the shift for the actors, who are becoming the show’s leads for the very first time.
For Luke Newton, becoming the show’s co-lead comes with a bigger challenge than meets the eye. Diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a child, Newton has previously admitted that his learning difficulties are his “worst nightmare” when it comes to reading a script.
But with the new season of Bridgerton, Newton shares that he might have finally cracked the code.
“Growing up with dyslexia, I thought that I was never going to learn scripts.”
“It’s definitely something that I was worried about,” Newton tells Refinery29 Australia at the Australian premiere of Bridgerton Season 3. “Growing up with dyslexia, I thought that I was never going to learn scripts.”
“I think I’ve got things thing that I’ve learned and picked up throughout my career that are now staples in my routine,” Newton says. “I’ve got coping mechanisms.”
While it might seem that a script for Bridgerton may be difficult for any person to learn, let alone one who is neurodivergent, Newton tells us that he was able to “tap into” the show’s structure and way of writing. “With the scripts and the way that the show’s written, it’s written in such a specific way that once you tap into that, it kind of flows,” he explains. “I genuinely think halfway through Season Three, someone could have given me a script on the day and I would have learned it.”
“I almost felt like I was reading scenes and I knew what Colin was going to say, from the start of the line to the end of it,” he says, adding that, “it just felt really organic and natural.”
“It’s so beautifully written what [showrunner] Jess [Brownell] has done this season,” Newton adds.
But as for how Newton navigates scripts and the industry? “It’s just that muscle memory,” he says. “It’s also knowing that I have to do this on camera and I want it to be good.”
For many neurodivergent people, seeing someone navigating acting with ADHD and dyslexia is heartwarming. To see them thriving? That’s a complete other sense of euphoria. While learning scripts might take Newton a little longer and he has more challenges to navigate than a neurotypical person, his presence on the screen and openness about his experiences with ADHD and dyslexia is deeply healing.
While Newton might have learned how to navigate scripts with dyslexia and ADHD, it seems that there’s one thing he’s still not used to — being a leading man. “It’s a lot today, isn’t it?” he laughs while soaking in all the lights, cameras, and people who are just there for one teeny glimpse of him.
Don’t worry — we’ve got a feeling that it won’t be the last time.
