16 Celebrities With Autism Speaking About Life on the Spectrum

Tallulah Willis

Actress Tallulah Willis shared her autism prognosis in March 2024, in a candy, low-key Instagram caption accompanying a throwback video along with her dad, Bruce Willis. “inform me your autistic with out telling me your autistic,” she wrote subsequent to the video, which featured a younger Tallulah fortunately rubbing her dad’s bald head.

Willis expanded on the prognosis down within the feedback. When one fan requested if she was recognized as a baby, Willis replied, “Truly that is the that is the primary time I’ve ever publicly shared my prognosis. Discovered this summer time and it’s modified my life.”

Sia

Pop singer Sia opened up about her autism prognosis on a 2023 Rob Has a Podcast interview, saying, “I’m on the spectrum, and I’m in restoration and no matter — there’s a whole lot of issues.” The “Unstoppable” singer continued, “For 45 years, I used to be like, ‘I’ve acquired to go put my human swimsuit on.’ And solely within the final two years have I turn out to be totally, totally myself.”

Sia confronted backlash in 2020 for her depiction of autism in her movie Music, the place neurotypical actor Maddie Ziegler was solid as a nonverbal autistic character. Sia later apologized and promised that scenes exhibiting Ziegler’s character in restraints whereas experiencing sensory overstimulation could be eliminated, Rolling Stone reported.

Discussing her personal ASD prognosis within the 2023 interview, Sia stated, “No person can ever know and love you if you’re crammed with secrets and techniques … And after we lastly sit in a room filled with strangers and inform them our deepest, darkest, most shameful secrets and techniques… and we really feel seen for the primary time in our lives for who we truly are, after which we are able to begin going out into the world and simply working as people … and never pretending to be something.”

Bella Ramsey

It was whereas filming the primary season of The Final of Us that Bella Ramsey, the sequence’ star, was recognized with autism. Because the 21-year-old revealed in a 2025 British Vogue profile, a crew member on the present who had an autistic daughter assumed Ramsey had autism, too, which led them to finally being recognized. The prognosis, Ramsey added, helped them discover readability round issues they’d “all the time puzzled” about, like their self-described standing as a “weirdo” and “loner” whereas rising up and different sensory points.

Ramsey additionally believes their autism makes them a greater actor as a result of they’ve “all the time been watching and studying from individuals,” together with “having to study extra manually methods to socialise and work together with the individuals.” The prognosis was “liberating,” they continued. “It permits me to stroll via the world with extra grace in direction of myself about not with the ability to do the straightforward on a regular basis duties that everybody else appears to have the ability to do.”

Greta Thunberg

Environmental activist Greta Thunberg shared her ASD prognosis on social media again in 2019 as a response to the relentless rolls attacking her actions and look. “When haters go after your seems to be and variations, it means they’ve nowhere left to go. After which you realize you’re successful!” Thunberg wrote on Instagram. “I’ve Asperger’s syndrome and which means I’m generally a bit completely different from the norm. And — given the precise circumstances — being completely different is a superpower.”

In a 2021 interview with The Guardian, Thunberg expanded on the expertise of getting recognized and why she sees autism as a superpower. “Lots of people with autism have a particular curiosity that they will sit and do for an eternity with out becoming bored. It’s a really helpful factor generally,” she defined. “Autism may be one thing that holds you again, however should you get to the precise circumstance, if you’re round the precise individuals, should you get the diversifications that you simply want and you are feeling you will have a goal, then it may be one thing you need to use for good. And I believe that I’m doing that now.” She added that getting recognized was a aid, saying, “The prognosis was virtually solely constructive for me. It helped me get the help I wanted and made me perceive why I used to be like this.”

Holly Madison

Holly Madison revealed that she’d obtained a “formal prognosis” as “somebody on the spectrum” in a 2021 interview on the podcast Forward of the Curve, per People. In 2023, throughout an look on the Talking to Death podcast, the Down the Rabbit Gap creator went into depth about her experience with autism. “The physician informed me that I’ve excessive govt functioning, which suggests I can just about go about my life and do issues ‘usually,’” she stated. “I believe as a result of I’m extra quiet, I’ve solely not too long ago realized to make eye contact, I’m usually in my very own ideas, issues like that, so individuals take that as offensive. They’re like, ‘Rattling, you’re not tremendous excited about me, f— you.’”

Madison defined that she’s “simply not on the identical social wavelength as different individuals,” and that she hopes individuals don’t take issues like that personally. Having the prognosis helps, she says: “I like with the ability to clarify that.” 

Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle rose to fame as a contestant on Britain’s Received Expertise in 2009, nevertheless it wasn’t till 2012 that the opera-singing sensation was recognized with autism. Boyle was particularly informed she had Asperger’s dysfunction, a now-obsolete time period as soon as used to explain individuals with “high-functioning” autism who had common or higher-than-average language and intelligence ranges, per the Cleveland Clinic. (Asperger’s is now “changed by the broader prognosis of ASD,” the Cleveland Clinic says.)

When she shared her prognosis in 2013 with The Guardian, Boyle stated getting recognized was “a aid,” although her expertise with signs as a baby led to emotions of isolation. “I battle with relationships,” she stated on the time. “I by no means know if individuals are real. I’d say I’ve relationship difficulties, communicative difficulties, which result in a whole lot of frustration. If individuals have been a bit extra affected person, that might assist.” Boyle was additionally decided to point out that she was greater than a prognosis. “Asperger’s doesn’t outline me,” she defined. “It’s a situation that I’ve to reside with and work via, however I really feel extra relaxed about myself. Individuals may have a larger understanding of who I’m and why I do the issues I do.”

Dan Aykroyd

A star of the unique Ghostbusters franchise, Dan Aykroyd informed The Daily Mail in 2013 that his autism truly helped encourage the favored motion pictures. Recognized with Asperger’s within the 80s — “when my spouse persuaded me to see a health care provider” — Aykroyd stated he manages his ASD fairly properly, nevertheless it comes with an inclination to get obsessive. “Certainly one of my signs included my obsession with ghosts and legislation enforcement — I carry round a police badge with me, for instance,” he stated. “I turned obsessed by Hans Holzer, the best ghost hunter ever. That’s when the concept of my movie Ghostbusters was born.”

Anthony Hopkins

Academy Award-winning actor Anthony Hopkins “didn’t know Asperger’s even existed” till he was recognized. “My spouse was attempting to determine who she was married to and she or he learn a publication from a psychotherapist,” he stated of his journey to a prognosis, in an interview with Desert Sun in 2017. He realized that folks with the situation “are usually artistic or severely handicapped,” noting that “I don’t know if that’s true of me, however I do know I can by no means be restful. I are inclined to multi-task. I determine I’m not going to color after which I’ll spend 24 hours portray.”

Grimes

Grimes revealed her autism prognosis in a prolonged post on X in 2025. “Received recognized w adhd/ autism this 12 months and realized I’m prob dyslexic which is why I can’t spell in any respect with out spellcheck,” she wrote. The musician famous that, if she’d had the diagnoses as a baby, “I’d have labored a lot much less onerous, been on medicine, and so most of the bizarre obsessions and motivations I had would have been seen as pathological and I may have written off sure issues that have been very onerous for me however I’m glad I overcame them.”

Courtney Love

Courtney Love has solely publically spoken about her expertise with ASD as soon as, in a 1994 interview with Rolling Stone. “Once I discuss being introverted, I used to be recognized autistic,” the Gap frontwoman stated, along with her preliminary signs together with issue speaking. “At an early age, I’d not communicate,” she defined. “Then I merely bloomed. My first go to to a psychiatrist was after I was, like, three. Observational remedy. TM for tots. You title it, I’ve been there.”

Elon Musk

Elon Musk may hardly have chosen a extra public outlet to share his ASD prognosis: he introduced it on Saturday Night Live in 2021. “I’m truly making historical past tonight as the primary individual with Asperger’s to host SNL, or no less than the primary to confess it,” the Tesla and SpaceX founder stated in his monologue. (Dan Aykroyd hosted in 2003, however didn’t share his prognosis publicly till 2013.)

Musk expanded on his expertise with ASD in a 2022 TED Talk, sharing that his childhood was “fairly tough” as a result of, for him, “Social cues weren’t intuitive… I’d take one thing very actually as if the phrases that have been spoken have been precisely what they meant. However that turned out to be flawed.” Regardless of the bullying, Musk discovered refuge in science and know-how. “I discovered it rewarding to spend all evening programming computer systems, simply on my own,” he defined. “Most individuals don’t get pleasure from typing unusual symbols into a pc by themselves all evening. They assume that’s not enjoyable. However I actually favored it.”

Wentworth Miller

Jail Break star Wentworth Miller took to Instagram in 2021 to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of his autism prognosis. “This fall marks 1 12 months since I obtained my casual autism prognosis. Preceded by a self-diagnosis. Adopted by a proper prognosis,” he wrote in a now-deleted Instagram submit, per CNN. He stated the prognosis got here as “a shock” however “not a shock,” and admitted that he nonetheless had loads to study.

“I don’t know sufficient about autism. (There’s loads to know.),” Miller wrote. “Proper now my work seems to be like evolving my understanding. Re-examining 5 many years of lived expertise via a brand new lens.” He additionally famous that it wasn’t his intention to talk for all the the autistic neighborhood, a bunch that “has traditionally been talked over… I don’t want to do extra hurt. Solely to lift my hand, say ‘I’m right here.’ Have been (w/o realizing it).”

Daryl Hannah

Blade Runner actress Daryl Hannah was recognized with autism as a baby and suffered from intense shyness and isolation because of the situation. She additionally repeatedly rocked backwards and forwards, a symptom of ASD, and docs needed to place her in a psychological establishment till her mom intervened.  Performing turned her escape from the signs, she informed Individuals in 2013, per Today. “Performing for me was about going to the Land of Oz and assembly the Tin Man,” Hannah defined. “It nonetheless is.”

Whereas Hannah stated she nonetheless offers with the psychological and bodily signs of ASD, she manages them with a view to proceed her performing profession and her environmental activism. “I wasted an excessive amount of time scared, self-conscious and insecure,” she stated. “Life is just too brief to emphasize the small issues anymore.”

Chris Fischer

Award-winning chef Chris Fischer was recognized with autism spectrum dysfunction in 2019, and his journey to prognosis was truly kicked off by his spouse, comic Amy Schumer. “My spouse was the person who actually initiated the dialog,” Fischer defined on a 2021 episode of the Eating in Isolation podcast. “By way of observations of my habits and my patterns and my communication expertise, or lack of communication expertise, [and] for the preservation of our relationship, [she] needed to determine methods to present the perfect instruments for us to thrive. And so she did some analysis and poked round on-line and realized about autism spectrum dysfunction.”

After taking a number of on-line assessments, Fischer finally linked with professionals who labored with adults with autism, acquired a scientific prognosis, and located a “nice therapist” he’d been working with ever since. “We spend a whole lot of time speaking about life and the way my mind works,” he stated. Fischer stated one among his signs is a fixation on downside fixing — which is usually a constructive or adverse. “I kind of spend most of my day figuring out issues which aren’t essentially a adverse factor after which organizing my world round fixing them,” he defined. Whereas he says that strategy has helped him succeed within the restaurant business, the place his singular focus may also help him block out the noise of a busy evening within the kitchen and discover extra environment friendly methods to enhance techniques, it could possibly additionally manifest in a “tendency to obsess [over work,” he noted. “I was all in on work and I had a very imbalanced rest of my life, 

“It’s a complicated subject,” Fischer reflected of ASD and his own diagnosis. “I’m still trying to understand what it means.”

Melanie Sykes

English TV presenter Melanie Sykes described her 2021 autism diagnosis as “truly life changing, or rather, life affirming.” Per The Sun, Sykes shared her diagnosis in an email to subscribers of her magazine The Frank, telling readers the diagnosis came with a “sense of relief,” and that she was celebrating the news. “I now have a deeper understanding of myself, my life, and the things I have endured,” Sykes explained.

Sykes said she sometimes struggled working in TV due to her autism. She’d accidentally respond to a director talking in her earpiece while she was live on air, “as I cannot juggle the person I am interviewing and the person in my ear at the same time.” Her memory had also been “problematic, and remembering pieces to camera could spin me out, resulting in sleepless nights beforehand. There have been many tears of fear and frustration.” With the diagnosis, Sykes said, “so many things made sense.”

Tamra Judge

Reality star Tamra Judge revealed her autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in 2024 on an episode of the podcast she cohosts with Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave, Two Ts In a Pod. “I just did my first therapy session … Let’s just say I found out something pretty big about myself that I didn’t know,” Judge told Mellencamp before revealing, “I am on the spectrum.”

In a follow-up conversation with People, the Real Housewives of Orange County star recalled that her therapist pointed out a few specific symptoms of autism that Judge displayed. “She told me that many of the things about me — like how I process information, my sensory issues, my social anxiety, my aversion to eye contact with new people, my not wanting to be out of my routine, etc. — were all signs of being on the spectrum.”

Judge also expressed regret at publically revealing her diagnosis so soon, noting that she’d just finished her therapy session when she sat down for the podcast. “I just want to take people through the journey with me as I’ve always done, but I realize now I spoke too soon publicly, and that processing this with such an onslaught of negative comments has been horrible,” Judge said. At the same time, she continued, “I’m finally getting the help I need, and I’m proud of myself for that.”