Farting in front of Colin Firth.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2023 source ↗
failure
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Originally asked
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A verbatim recurring question in The Guardian's Q&A series.
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One of 24 questions in The Q&A here.
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I remember being a teenager and writing this romantic short story in the style of the Brontës on a computer and I didn’t realise that the person whose computer it was could just print it out. A group of boys had a couple of pages and they were all reading it.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 September 2023 source ↗
I have a deep-rooted fear of being in trouble. I once tried to sneak into the back of a photography exhibition with my husband when one of our kids was in a pushchair. We’d arrived late and he suggested we go in through the gift shop and see the last room. As we poked our heads round the door, the security guard noticed us. I shouted, “That man’s trying to get in!”, then ran away.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗
I worked with Stephen Fry recently and we had a real heart-to-heart. I asked: “What was it like being in prison for being gay?” And thank God someone came in and he didn’t hear me say it. I was mixing him up with when he played Oscar Wilde. I could picture him in his cell.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗
Being an actor is inherently embarrassing. You have to embrace it.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 May 2025 source ↗
I was in Oliver! when I was 10 and I peed myself on stage in front of however many people the Palladium holds. It was the stuff of nightmares.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 November 2025 source ↗
When I was losing my sight, I couldn’t see where I was going, and I went into an undertaker’s thinking it was a barber’s. I asked the undertaker whether he had many waiting.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 November 2025 source ↗
Leaving the stage from a panic attack in my 20s. Hearing the audience angry.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 November 2025 source ↗
After the 2012 Olympics I hosted the parade. I had on a little skirt and when the prime minister came on everyone cheered. I thought: “Oh my God, they love David Cameron,” but they were cheering because my skirt had blown up, and I’d flashed my knickers at him.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗
At school, I got my head stuck in a balustrade on the stairs at lunchtime. I had pupils laughing at me, parents laughing at me, teachers laughing at me and eventually, at the end of the day, the fire brigade laughing at me.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 January 2026 source ↗
On radio, I once said “anal” instead of “angel”.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗
On one of my first jobs, Cold Mountain, I got a wasp in my ear in front of Jude Law. He couldn’t see the wasp so just saw me freak out.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 May 2026 source ↗
Accidentally walking on to set naked for a scene where I wasn’t actually supposed to be naked.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗
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