As a child, Daryl Hannah was diagnosed with autism. In the new issue of People, the Splash star opens up for the first time about growing up with the disorder and discusses the impact its had on her career.
Little was known about autism at the time of Hannah’s diagnosis, and doctors recommended that she be medicated and institutionalized. As a young teen, Hannah devoured old movies in lieu of having a social life, which led to her love of acting. At the age of 17, she moved to L.A.
Although Hannah’s autism didn’t hold her back where it mattered most (performing in front of the camera), it certainly held back in other ways. For instance, Hannah never promoted her movies on the talk show circuit or showed up to her own premieres. “Not because I was above it,”; she explains. “But because I was terrified. I’ve never been comfortable being the centre of attention. It’s always freaked me out.”;
Now at the age of 52, Hannah says she’s “learned a couple of things that really would’ve made my life easier if I’d known them 20 years ago.”;
Hannah still appears in movies from time to time (“I’m definitely not being offered the greatest roles in the world,”; she says), but lately her passion in life seems to have shifted to environmental activism. Last year, she was arrested in Texas for attempting to halt the construction of a pipeline designed to bring oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.
The new issue of People is on newsstands now.
