It took four years for Justin Baldoni‘s therapist to finally convince him to get tested for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder after years of feeling ‘stupid,’ and he was officially diagnosed this year at age 40.
The It Ends with Us director-star’s symptoms began as a child when he was told he was ‘disruptive, out of control’ and ‘didn’t pay attention.’
‘I don’t really have any positive memories of school. Reading was always very tough,’ Justin told Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail podcast on Wednesday.
‘I remember at a very young age, having to reread and reread and reread pages over again, because I would read and then I would forget what I read, and that continued over the course of my life.’
Baldoni – who felt like ‘God made a mistake’ – doesn’t blame his parents Sam and Sharon for choosing not to get him tested and put on drugs like Ritalin to treat the neurodivergent condition.
‘Not wanting me to be doped up on something and ADHD back then wasn’t really understood,’ the Cali-born, Oregon-raised filmmaker explained.
It took four years for Justin Baldoni’s therapist to finally convince him to get tested for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder after years of feeling ‘stupid,’ and he was officially diagnosed this year at age 40 (pictured Wednesday)
‘I think they didn’t want to raise me feeling broken and ironically, because nobody was there to talk to me about it, nobody held space for me. I felt broken.’
Justin continued: ‘They did the best that they could. I’ve gone through my anger and my frustration and my grieving about what could have been. I end with compassion and empathy for those two trying to raise a son that looked very similar to them and how triggering that must have been.’
Baldoni ‘harmed myself quite a bit over the course of my life’ over whether or not it was ADHD, so the diagnosis ‘gave me so much compassion for myself.’
‘I am able to hold that little boy who had nobody, who felt like he was the odd one out that he couldn’t learn the way everyone else could. That he couldn’t function, that he couldn’t regulate his emotions, that he couldn’t sit still,’ the Man Enough podcaster continued.
‘I’m able to hold him and let him know that it wasn’t his fault and I get to remind him that all that the way that your brain works, all of those things that you hate about yourself are going to be the things that allow you to be successful one day, that allow you to flourish and succeed.’
Justin gets a lot of support from his Swedish wife of 11 years, Emily Fuxler, whom he originally met in 2011.
Baldoni and the 40-year-old We are AMMA co-founder are proud parents of nine-year-old daughter Maiya Grace Baldoni and seven-year-old son Maxwell Roland-Samuel Baldoni.
Following his disastrous It Ends with Us press tour apart from onscreen leading lady Blake Lively, the Jane the Virgin alum is now focusing on producing rather than acting or directing.
The It Ends with Us director-star’s symptoms began as a child when he was told he was ‘disruptive, out of control’ and ‘didn’t pay attention’
Justin told Elizabeth Day’s How to Fail podcast on Wednesday: ‘I don’t really have any positive memories of school. Reading was always very tough. I remember at a very young age, having to reread and reread and reread pages over again’
Baldoni – who felt like ‘God made a mistake’ – doesn’t blame his parents Sam and Sharon for choosing not to get him tested and put on drugs like Ritalin to treat the neurodivergent condition
‘Not wanting me to be doped up on something and ADHD back then wasn’t really understood,’ the Cali-born, Oregon-raised filmmaker explained
Justin ‘harmed myself quite a bit over the course of my life’ over whether or not it was ADHD, so the diagnosis ‘gave me so much compassion for myself’
Baldoni gets a lot of support from his Swedish wife of 11 years, Emily Fuxler (L, pictured September 15), whom he originally met in 2011
The Man Enough podcaster and the 40-year-old We are AMMA co-founder are proud parents of nine-year-old daughter Maiya and seven-year-old son Maxwell (pictured June 17)
Following his disastrous It Ends with Us press tour apart from onscreen leading lady Blake Lively, Justin is now focusing on producing rather than acting or directing
The entire cast and crew were clearly estranged from Baldoni, who did interviews solo following rumors he’d ‘fat-shamed’ the 37-year-old Gossip Girl alum and ‘created a tense atmosphere on set’ (pictured January 12 on set)
Blake faced substantial outrage over her treatment of journalists, sarcastically answering questions about domestic violence in the movie, and floral-filled Barbie-style promotion directly tied to her haircare and booze brands (pictured August 8)
The Jane the Virgin alum served as executive producer on Scarlett Johansson’s (R, pictured February 26) upcoming feature directorial debut Eleanor the Great
Justin will also produce Yemi Bamiro’s documentary Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, Christopher Leone’s paramedic comedy Code 3, and Roshan Sethi’s rom-com A Nice Indian Boy (pictured)
The entire cast and crew were clearly estranged from Justin, who did interviews solo following rumors he’d ‘fat-shamed’ the 37-year-old Gossip Girl alum and ‘created a tense atmosphere on set.’
Blake faced substantial outrage over her treatment of journalists, sarcastically answering questions about domestic violence in the movie, and floral-filled Barbie-style promotion directly tied to her haircare and booze brands.
Despite the off-set drama and dismal reviews, It Ends with Us amassed $350M at the global box office and fans are still begging for a sequel to the $25M-budget romantic drama.
Baldoni served as executive producer on Scarlett Johansson’s upcoming feature directorial debut Eleanor the Great, which has already scored distribution deals with TriStar Pictures and Sony Pictures Classics.
The Wayfarer Studios co-founder will also produce Yemi Bamiro’s documentary Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story, Christopher Leone’s paramedic comedy Code 3, and Roshan Sethi’s rom-com A Nice Indian Boy.
