What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?

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.

Recorded Ed Harris said elsewhere, not written here
'You're not free.'

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2007 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 122 →
I had a casting director once stop me in the middle of an audition and tell me to go wash my face in the bathroom because she felt my makeup was too distracting, but I wasn’t wearing any. It was mortifying. It felt like a power play and I was so young, I didn’t know what to do.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2026 source ↗
Another actress once said to me, “I’ve told you huge lies to make you feel good about yourself.” I’m not going to say who.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 January 2024 source ↗
One time an engineer said, “I always forget your frequency is at the same level as a crying baby.” I think he was on to something, because I have been told to shush many times over the years.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 November 2025 source ↗

More from Ed Harris

View profile →

More on failure & regret

Also answered this · A–Z

Alison Steadman, Charles Dance, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Craig Charles, Cybill Shepherd, David Hasselhoff

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

Report this answer