Jodie Whittaker
English actress
Working in a soap factory in Huddersfield. I was in my late teens, so I was basically hungover every day.
What is the worst job you have done?
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What would you like to leave your children?
Death & what remains
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
Change of mind
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
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 worked in a supermarket on the Kings Road when I was 17, standing by the beers, wines and spirits to make sure people didn’t shoplift. They were such horrible employers that I didn’t care whether people shoplifted or not.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 229 →I didn’t enjoy a bar job and glass collecting – people could be really rude.
Robert Carlyle
Scottish actor
The worst was as a butcher, aged 17.
Chris Hoy
British track cyclist, 1994–2013
Delivering papers in the freezing cold for my granny. I got paid in Panini football stickers, so it wasn’t all bad.
More from Juliet Stevenson
View profile →I really wanted a role in Harry Potter and I never got one.
A deep sense that they will be fine in the world without me.
Many times on British roads, because I drive very fast. In another life, I would have liked doing Formula One.
I vowed never to marry, but we got married as soon as we could after lockdown. I used to think it was patriarchal but when same-sex marriage became legal, I thought: OK, great, this institution has finally changed.
I would find a much better way of looking after my mum in her last three years of dementia. I did my best, but it was incredibly difficult to find the right kind of care unless you’ve got £3,000 a week to spend.
I get a lot of abuse online because of my opposition to the assault on Gaza. The abuse is horrific, but I’ve learned to ignore it. The integrity of how you live your life is more important than what strangers think.
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