Katherine Parkinson
English actor
Not getting into MI5.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
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.
Not keeping off the last 5lbs.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 369 →Without naming names, some people I’ve put a lot of faith and trust and love into.
For my dad not to have known our boys.
Engelbert Humperdinck
British singer
Not understanding the business side of my career enough. I could have probably been much wealthier than I am.
More from Stockard Channing
View profile →“Let’s face it, you’re not Ingrid Bergman.” I was 19 and he was a potential boyfriend. My only thought at the time was: “I’m not?”
At the election of Joe Biden, thinking we were out of the woods. Wrong.
A dress designer.
Don’t answer every question you’re asked.
Climate change.
Fifteen years ago, I totally forgot my lines on stage and was mortified. We skipped two pages of dialogue and took three minutes off the play – to the delight of the audience!
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? 205 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 124 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 124 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 77 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 39 answers
Also answered this
Shirley Hughes, David Schwimmer, Ted Danson, Jennifer Egan, Ranulph Fiennes, Toyah Willcox
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