This country’s enchantment with privately educated, self-serving liars.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2023 source ↗
failure
What has been your biggest disappointment?
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This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
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One of 24 questions in The Q&A here.
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In their forties 11
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Seventy and beyond 10
Politics. And casting directors.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 December 2023 source ↗
That money doesn’t buy happiness.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗
The main courses are never as tasty as starters. But enough about my sex life.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 March 2025 source ↗
I assumed that once I reached some level of achievement, I would feel fixed.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗
My A-level results in 1998. I flunked my history A-level and lost my place at Cambridge. It broke my heart for years; now I’m really glad, because I pull out the whole “I went to a polytechnic” thing. But at the time for a teenager who was rather pleased with herself, it was absolutely devastating.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 March 2026 source ↗
Not playing Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. I am a huge Brando fan and a big Tennessee Williams fan and it’s a part I would love to have a go at. It’s possible I still could but I’m too old, really.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 May 2026 source ↗
In the back of my mind I just assumed I’d be in a boyband at some point.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗
I started my career not getting jobs, but then you learn that 95% of this job is not getting jobs, and you just have to make peace with it.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 June 2026 source ↗
Not winning Celebrity MasterChef. I am still gutted, despite many months of pretending to be fine with it.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
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