“We’d love you to be on the cover of our magazine and we’ll give you a makeover.”
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 December 2023 source ↗
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I was opening in a play in my 20s, and my agent came on opening night, brought flowers, took me out to dinner and then told me she was no longer going to be representing me.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 122 →
Jason Manford
English comedian and singer
Someone once said online that they hated me so much they wanted to stab me with a spoon. A knife’s easy, but a spoon – that takes real hatred.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 July 2023 source ↗
In an audition at the Royal Court, this man called out, “Were you trained?”
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 March 2025 source ↗
“You’ll never, ever work.” When you are young and full of hopes and dreams it’s devastating. I am just grateful that I thought: “Well, I’m going to try.”
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 December 2025 source ↗
More from Rita Wilson
View profile →I was doing a photoshoot right after an awards show and I was talking about someone whose makeup I really didn’t like. I said: “She’s gorgeous, I don’t understand how a makeup artist could encourage that?” And the makeup artist on the photoshoot said: “I did her makeup.”
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
Anything and everything.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
I was a ticket taker at the Universal Amphitheatre, an outdoor music venue. I saw everybody – Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, the Eagles, Elton. But, after that, we had to clean the women’s restrooms and that was horrible. There was a lot of drinking, a lot of vomiting, a lot of very messy bathrooms.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
Having breast cancer.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
Like waves of warm water rippling on to the shores of your heart.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
I really admire Bonnie Raitt. She is a singer songwriter who has been doing what she has been doing for so many years and she recently won the song of the year Grammy for Just Like That. I loved the validation that creativity never stops, you can keep doing the things that you love.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗
More on failure & regret
- What has been your biggest disappointment? 218 answers
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 60 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 35 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Adam Clayton, Adam Kay, Adam Lambert, Alex Lawther, Alison Steadman, Ally McCoist
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All failure & regret questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject