For my dad not to have known our boys.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Losing out on a role, any role. I get so invested. I can take rejection, but only when useful feedback is given.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 May 2024 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 366 →
Ardal O'Hanlon
Irish comedian and actor
The day I had to stop playing football five years ago. I realised I couldn’t hack it any more.
Jessica Brown Findlay
English actress
Spending over half my life under Tory rule.
Bryan Cranston
American actor
That I couldn’t bridge the gap with my parents before they died. My mother died 10 years ago of Alzheimer’s, and my father died two years ago. He left when I was 11 and we got back in touch when I was 22.
More from Eleanor Tomlinson
View profile →I’m terrified of time. The people I love are getting older and time seems to be going faster and faster. It’s scary. I’d like it to slow down, please.
Talk to people. Learn from them. And put your phone away.
I’ve never seen Star Wars (I know!) and on my first day of a recent job, I’m sitting next to this very friendly actor. I ask if he has much experience with motion capture. He says, “Yes.” I say “Oh great! What have you worked on?” He says, “I’m Mark Hamill.”
Relief and an achy feeling in your cheeks from smiling.
“You were amazing in Game of Thrones.” I say it’s the worst thing – it’s also the best!
Endless acting jobs.
More on failure & regret
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 63 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Abigail Breslin, Adeel Akhtar, Adrian Dunbar, Adrian Edmondson, Adrian Scarborough, Alan Dale
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