Meghann Fahy: What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

The question

What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I had a casting director once stop me in the middle of an audition and tell me to go wash my face in the bathroom because she felt my makeup was too distracting, but I wasn’t wearing any. It was mortifying. It felt like a power play and I was so young, I didn’t know what to do.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 122 →

Michelle Collins

A radio presenter said I had yellow teeth – to my face. When I was 45, a manager in LA said I was too old to work in Hollywood; and then she rang my agent and said, “Can you tell your client never to wear that perfume again because it made me feel sick.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 April 2024 source ↗

Felicity Jones British actress

“You’re a reasonably intelligent girl,” by a teacher, and it drove me crazy and made me want to get into Oxford.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 May 2023 source ↗

Lee Child

“Try this, you’ll love it.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗

Rosie Jones British comedian and actress

“You’re not funny.” I fully understand why my comedy might not be right for everyone, but don’t tell me, get on with your day!

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 December 2022 source ↗