Adeel Akhtar
British actor
In Brooklyn, I was a dishwasher in a sandwich shop.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 May 2018 source ↗
What is the worst job you have done?
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's long-running Q&A repeatedly asks this standing question, with minor tense variation.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I used to do silver service waitressing at parties and events. The job was great, but there was constant harassment and groping from older men, and I hadn’t found my voice yet. It’s terrifying when you are young and you need a job.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 229 →
Victoria Derbyshire
British broadcaster
Working in a furniture factory in Warrington when I was 17. It was a summer job, and I had to cover the studs in the back of Chesterfield sofas with leather.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 September 2021 source ↗
Bruno Tonioli
Italian choreographer
I had to choreograph dancing cows for a commercial. I had to superimpose footage of dancing legs – some were mine – on to the cow. It was bonkers.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 April 2023 source ↗
Zoe Ball
British TV and radio personality
The failed attempt at a home perm on myself in the 80s. I wanted to look like Kelly McGillis in Top Gun.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 December 2020 source ↗
More from Jessica Brown Findlay
View profile →Spending over half my life under Tory rule.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
My wedding day last year. It was supposed to be 4 April and, in the end, it was 12 September.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
A ballet dancer. I danced from age two to 19. Giving up was not a choice; I had complications in an ankle operation.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
My password. [In 2014, Brown Findlay’s iCloud account was hacked.]
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
During lockdown, I found out I wasn’t pregnant any more.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
The thought of infinity.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 March 2021 source ↗
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