Golda Rosheuvel - ‘I don’t see my dyslexia as a failure anymore’

How To Fail With Elizabeth Day

Sony Music

Society & Culture

4.7 • 9.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2026

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Best known for her role as Queen Charlotte in Bridgerton, Golda Rosheuvel is an acclaimed actor of stage and screen. Her career spans powerful theatrical roles including Romeo and Juliet, Jesus Christ Superstar and a groundbreaking lesbian interpretation of Othello. She also stars in the spin-off series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. In this conversation, Golda speaks movingly about her childhood and family: how her mother, a white social worker, met her father, a Guyanese Anglican priest, by chance at a choir rehearsal in Jamaica. She reflects on discovering she was dyslexic, navigating rejection, experiencing racism, struggling with motivation - and even failing an early audition for Bridgerton. Plus: why representation is so important. ✨ IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction 04:12 Impact of Representation and Public Recognition 08:39 Challenges with Dyslexia 21:15 Navigating Identity and Belonging 28:10 Professional Challenges and Identity 29:08 Casting and Industry Feedback 29:47 Facing Rejection and Overcoming Setbacks 30:32 Failed Auditions and Lessons Learned 31:45 Challenges of Racial Identity in Theatre 34:04 Progress in Representation and Diversity 35:35 Reflecting on Parental Influence 38:58 Navigating Personal and Professional Identity 40:36 Struggles with Exercise and Motivation 47:54 Final Thoughts and Legacy 💬 QUOTES TO REMEMBER: ‘I’m not half anything. I’m a whole... I found who I want to be. ‘I don't see [dyslexia] as a failure because it was never told to me that it was a failure... It was, “you see the world differently”. This is really exciting.’ ‘Representation is important. We wanna see people who look like us, who we can relate to.’ 🔗 LINKS + MENTIONS: Part one of Bridgerton season four premieres on 29th January on Netflix; part two begins streaming on 26th February Join the How To Fail community: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth’s Substack: https://theelizabethday.substack.com/ 📚 WANT MORE? Gillian Anderson - on her failure to eat well or exercise and why she never wants to do what people tell her swap.fm/l/7NyZMzkfVOpGyDtlB6k0 Letitia Wright - on bullying, rejection, self-doubt, anxiety and depression. Plus how faith and friendship helped her turn those struggles into strength and purpose swap.fm/l/orHGF9VMU6s1FOH3bupc 💌 LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories 👋 Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Elizabeth and Golda answer listener questions in our subscriber series, Failing with Friends. Join our community of subscribers here: https://howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you’re trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless How to Fail is an Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This month, we are partnering with Pink Lady Apples.
0:03.7	Welcome to How to Fail, the podcast where we ask each guest about the things that went wrong
0:09.0	to get them closer to the things that went right.
0:12.3	Before we get on to this particular episode, please do remember to subscribe and follow
0:16.6	so that you never miss a single conversation.
0:19.6	Bridgeton is a interesting story because I went up for Lady Danbury first.
0:24.1	I just fell completely apart and it was a terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible audition.
0:29.6	I've been with my personal trainer four years now in the gym.
0:33.1	We've had some right old ding-dongs where I've gone.
0:35.9	He's asked me to do something. I'm like,
0:37.7	no. I didn't get the job. And I was like, why, why, why, why, why, why? And they said,
0:42.8	because I wasn't black enough. I just wanted to take a second to interrupt and tell you about
0:50.0	something very important in the shape of a pink lady. Now, I'm always on the move, whether I'm
0:56.9	recording this podcast, going to meetings with my agent, or out and about on my book tour. So I
1:03.6	often struggle with finding a healthy snack in the middle of a busy day. Grabbing something sugary
1:10.4	or salty is easy, but it's rarely what I actually want in
1:14.2	that moment. That's why I reach for a pink lady apple. It's the quick feel-good boost that brightens my
1:21.6	lunch break and makes the whole day feel a little lighter. Crisp, sweet and bursting with juicy crunch, a pink lady apple turns
1:30.1	an ordinary lunch into a moment you genuinely look forward to. Find your fizz and liven up your lunch
1:36.0	with pink lady apples. Add a packet to your shopping basket this week. This episode is brought to you
1:42.2	by Airbnb. I don't know about you, but I am craving a bit of
1:47.2	winter sun at the moment, and I'm so envious of our producer and a few of her pals who are off to
	...

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