10 Stars Who Have Opened Up About Living with a Stutter

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty; Jason Mendez/Getty; Anthony Harvey/Getty

Some of the most influential people in the world live with a stutter.

Celebrities likeEd Sheeran,Tiger Woodsand even PresidentJoe Biden— who has garnered rounds of applause for his speeches — have opened up about their experiences of living with a stutter, inspiring millions who share this challenge.

Read how other stars have learned to manage their speech disorder.

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President Joe Biden

NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden frequently addresses the nation with ease, but he has struggled with a stutter since childhood. The presidentopened upabout his history with the speech impediment during aCNN town hallin February 2020, revealing that he’d read poetry in front of a mirror for hours to improve his public speaking.

Biden said he still stutters “occasionally, when I find myself really tired” and keeps in contact with a few young people who stutter, serving as a mentor.

He was similarly candid to PEOPLE in 2011,reflecting on painful childhood teasingbecause of his stutter. “You get so desperate; you’re so embarrassed,” Biden said.

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Ed Sheeran

Sheeran had to work to get his words out as a kid, explaining that rapping along to anEminemalbum helped him shed his stutter.

In a word of advice to kids struggling with a stutter, he stressed that “stuttering is not a thing you have to be worried about at all.”

More importantly, Sheeran added, “Just be yourself, ‘cause there’s no one in the world that can be a better you than you.”

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Emily Blunt

Emily Blunt.Jason Mendez/Getty

“I started noticing it at six or seven,“Emily Blunttold PEOPLE in March 2020 of realizing she stuttered. “My grandfather, my uncle and my cousin all stutter. It feels like you’ve got this imposter living in your body.”

Today, Bluntworks closely with the American Institute for Stuttering, a cause she says will always be close to her heart.

“I know it in every nuance and so to be able to help and to be able to offer up any advice or assistance or emboldenment that I can, it just is the greatest pleasure for me because it’s a very misunderstood, misrepresented disability, and … it’s one that is very often bullied and laughed at because people look funny and sound funny when they stutter,” she told PEOPLE.

04of 10Samuel L. JacksonMike Smith/NBC/GettyThough the steely star never skips a beat in his high-profile roles,Samuel L. Jacksonkept quiet as a kid because he had a stutter.“I stuttered really, really, really bad for a long time … to the point that I stopped speaking for, like, almost a year in school,“he said onThe Howard Stern Showin January 2016.In addition to breathing exercises and reading at the library, Jackson said that repeating a certain four-syllable expletive helped him crack the worst of the impediment. (Here’s a hint: He famously uses the curse word in one of his most iconic lines fromSnakes on a Plane.)“I have no idea,” Jackson said when Stern asked why the word helped. “But it just does. It clicks a switch.”

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Samuel L. Jackson

Mike Smith/NBC/Getty

Though the steely star never skips a beat in his high-profile roles,Samuel L. Jacksonkept quiet as a kid because he had a stutter.

“I stuttered really, really, really bad for a long time … to the point that I stopped speaking for, like, almost a year in school,“he said onThe Howard Stern Showin January 2016.

In addition to breathing exercises and reading at the library, Jackson said that repeating a certain four-syllable expletive helped him crack the worst of the impediment. (Here’s a hint: He famously uses the curse word in one of his most iconic lines fromSnakes on a Plane.)

“I have no idea,” Jackson said when Stern asked why the word helped. “But it just does. It clicks a switch.”

05of 10James Earl JonesWalter McBride/WireImageJames Earl Jones, who iconically voiced Darth Vader in theStar Warsfranchise and Mufasa in 1994’sThe Lion Kingand its 2019 live-action remake,developed a flair for theatrics while working through his boyhood stutter.While appearing onThe Dick Cavett Showin 1972, the legendary actor explained that he was a “very quiet” kid due to his impediment — until a caring teacher intervened.“I had an English teacher in high school who discovered that when I read my own poetry, I didn’t stutter because I wasn’t in confrontation with other people’s feelings or thoughts,” he told the host. “I practiced reading poetry for awhile, and I think that’s what got me into the feeling for reading dramatic things.”

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James Earl Jones

Walter McBride/WireImage

James Earl Jones, who iconically voiced Darth Vader in theStar Warsfranchise and Mufasa in 1994’sThe Lion Kingand its 2019 live-action remake,developed a flair for theatrics while working through his boyhood stutter.

While appearing onThe Dick Cavett Showin 1972, the legendary actor explained that he was a “very quiet” kid due to his impediment — until a caring teacher intervened.

“I had an English teacher in high school who discovered that when I read my own poetry, I didn’t stutter because I wasn’t in confrontation with other people’s feelings or thoughts,” he told the host. “I practiced reading poetry for awhile, and I think that’s what got me into the feeling for reading dramatic things.”

06of 10Bruce WillisBruce Willis.TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty"The hardest thing I remember was being a kid stuttering. My advice to the young people in this room is to never let anyone make you feel like an outcast, because you will never be an outcast,“Bruce Willissaid whileaccepting an awardfrom the American Institute for Stuttering in June 2016.“It’s easy to get frustrated with a child who stutters, but believe me, the one who stutters is much more frustrated,” theDie Hardstar continued. “To the parents of stutterers … be patient, always listen. Offer encouragement, give positive reinforcement always.”

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Bruce Willis

Bruce Willis.TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty

“The hardest thing I remember was being a kid stuttering. My advice to the young people in this room is to never let anyone make you feel like an outcast, because you will never be an outcast,“Bruce Willissaid whileaccepting an awardfrom the American Institute for Stuttering in June 2016.

“It’s easy to get frustrated with a child who stutters, but believe me, the one who stutters is much more frustrated,” theDie Hardstar continued. “To the parents of stutterers … be patient, always listen. Offer encouragement, give positive reinforcement always.”

07of 10Tiger WoodsTiger Woods.AP Photo/Lee Jin-manWoods, who himself stuttered as a child, reached out to a teenage fan who attempted suicide after struggling to fit in due to his stutter,CNN reported in 2015.“I know what it’s like to be different and sometimes not fit in. I also stuttered as a child and I would talk to my dog and he would sit there and listen until he fell asleep,” the professional golfer wrote in a heartfelt letter.He continued: “I was younger than most of the kids I competed against, and often I was the only minority player on the field. But I didn’t let that stop me, and I think it even inspired me to work harder. I know you can do that too.”

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Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods.AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

AP Photo/Lee Jin-man

Woods, who himself stuttered as a child, reached out to a teenage fan who attempted suicide after struggling to fit in due to his stutter,CNN reported in 2015.

“I know what it’s like to be different and sometimes not fit in. I also stuttered as a child and I would talk to my dog and he would sit there and listen until he fell asleep,” the professional golfer wrote in a heartfelt letter.

He continued: “I was younger than most of the kids I competed against, and often I was the only minority player on the field. But I didn’t let that stop me, and I think it even inspired me to work harder. I know you can do that too.”

08of 10Nicole KidmanNicole Kidman.The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonNicole Kidmanmakes every role look effortless, but duringNewsweek’s 2011 Oscar Roundtable, theNorthmanactress revealed she had a frustrating stutter as a child.“I just remember everyone always saying to me, ‘Calm down, think about what you’re going to say,’ " theOscarwinner told the outlet. “I remember when I was little, just being so excited to get it out, and I couldn’t.”

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Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman.The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Nicole Kidmanmakes every role look effortless, but duringNewsweek’s 2011 Oscar Roundtable, theNorthmanactress revealed she had a frustrating stutter as a child.

“I just remember everyone always saying to me, ‘Calm down, think about what you’re going to say,’ " theOscarwinner told the outlet. “I remember when I was little, just being so excited to get it out, and I couldn’t.”

09of 10Kendrick LamarParas Griffin/Getty Images"As a kid, I used to stutter,“Kendrick LamartoldThe New York Times Magazinein June 2014.“I think that’s why I put my energy into making music. That’s how I get my thoughts out, instead of being crazy all the time,” the 16-timeGrammy-winning rapper added.

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Kendrick Lamar

Paras Griffin/Getty Images

“As a kid, I used to stutter,“Kendrick LamartoldThe New York Times Magazinein June 2014.

“I think that’s why I put my energy into making music. That’s how I get my thoughts out, instead of being crazy all the time,” the 16-timeGrammy-winning rapper added.

10of 10Marilyn MonroeGamma-Rapho via GettyMarilyn Monroe’s breathy voice came about on advice from a speech therapist, who suggested the screen siren try the tone to beat an on-again, off-again stutter she had since childhood,Vanity Fairreported in 2008.As an adult, the actress revealed she once stuttered through lines so severely while filming an unnamed movie that the director became livid,perThe Washington Post.“The director was furious. He said, ‘You don’t stutter,’ " Monroe recalled. “I said, ‘That’s what you think!’ "

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Marilyn Monroe

Gamma-Rapho via Getty

Marilyn Monroe’s breathy voice came about on advice from a speech therapist, who suggested the screen siren try the tone to beat an on-again, off-again stutter she had since childhood,Vanity Fairreported in 2008.

As an adult, the actress revealed she once stuttered through lines so severely while filming an unnamed movie that the director became livid,perThe Washington Post.

“The director was furious. He said, ‘You don’t stutter,’ " Monroe recalled. “I said, ‘That’s what you think!’ "

source: people.com