Roger Allam
English actor
Picking tiny bits of glass out of long grass for Haringey council, 45 years ago.
What is the worst job you have done?
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
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.
Serving tea in an insurance office to people who seemed to despise me at the age of 16 was pretty unpleasant.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 December 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 229 →
Kim Wilde
English pop singer
I’ve always enjoyed all my jobs, whether it was cleaning the stairs for my piano teacher or working at Lister hospital one summer.
Irvine Welsh
Scottish novelist
Laying down slabs for the council.
Chaka Khan
American singer
When Rufus first came out, it was all white guys and myself, but then the band changed and Tony Maiden, Bobby Watson and Andre Fischer came in. This guy booked us for a gig in Illinois, based on our original album cover, and when we got there he said that there were too many black people in the band. He actually put some white guys on the stage with us.
More from Rachel Whiteread
View profile →I would have thought more about exercise and a healthy lifestyle in my 20s, 30s and 40s.
As I get older, sleeping gets harder. I exercise, I do mindfulness, I take drugs occasionally.
A car, which is used like a van; I should have just bought the van.
Losing my parents when they were relatively young. My dad was 59 and my mum died at 72, 14 years ago.
People inspiring the new generation of politically active youngsters.
First something medical, then, without any doubt, an artist.
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