Alison Steadman
British actress
A critic once said she wanted to lift a carpet, put me under it and hold it down until I stopped moving.
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
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.
“You sing like a goat.” When I did my French album [Voila], this French woman – a supposed friend – said to my face: “It’s fantastic but, how come you sound like a chèvre?” It was like someone had hit me in the stomach.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 March 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 122 →
John Waters
American filmmaker
'Do you have a hobby?' It was a journalist. I went into a tirade: 'How dare you presume I'm a dabbler!'
“Didn’t you used to be Graydon Carter?”
“Try this, you’ll love it.”
More from Belinda Carlisle
View profile →A travel agent, so I could see the world.
I’ve been doing pilates for 25 years and I swear by it. I decided to kit out a room with pilates equipment – and I think it’s the most expensive thing I’ve invested in.
To stay in the moment and live each day to the maximum. You never know when it’s going to be taken away.
As a singer who did everything her way, no compromise.
I wouldn’t take back the drugs, but there are a few boyfriends that I’d edit out of my life.
Having a career that’s lasted 47 years, especially when I felt like an impostor for so many of them.
More on failure & regret
- What has been your biggest disappointment? 219 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? 36 answers
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Adam Lambert, Bruce Dickinson, Bryn Terfel, Chaka Khan, David Hasselhoff, Fran Healy
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