Peter Sarsgaard: What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?

The question

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 said elsewhere, not written here

When I was first acting, in college, a relative came and saw me in Hedda Gabler and she said: “Look in the mirror, you’re not an actor. An actor looks like Mel Gibson.”

The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 February 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Richard Eyre

Edward Bond, the playwright, said I was like a turd flowing on the effluent of British culture.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 February 2026 source ↗

Ciarán Hinds

As a young actor, again at the Citizens theatre, I was making an exit and a theatregoer leaned over the balcony and said, “You’re terrible!”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2025 source ↗

Craig Charles English actor

I was born in 1964, in the most working-class area of Liverpool, so the N-word was bandied around a lot.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 July 2024 source ↗

Lucy Beaumont

Some man in the street stopped me and said: “If you were a few inches taller you’d be dangerous.” I’ve no idea what he meant.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

More from Peter Sarsgaard

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Question Which moment embarrassed you most? Failure & regret

I was doing The Seagull with Carey Mulligan and Kristin Scott Thomas on Broadway. I walked out on stage and looked at Carey and said: “I’ve no idea what to say.” It was pretty deep into the run and it took me by surprise.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 February 2024 source ↗