Dan Stevens
English actor
Downton Abbey fans for ruining Christmas in 2012.
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
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.
To my mother for disappointing her. Mummy wanted me to be a different sort of person from who I am, but one can’t change oneself.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 July 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
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Chris Hoy
British track cyclist, 1994–2013
Max Levy, a German sprint cyclist who came second behind me a lot.
Max Whitlock
English artistic gymnast
My coach, Scott Hann, for all the stress before competitions.
Ronnie O'Sullivan
English snooker player
Frank Adamson, my first coach, for not spending more time with him in his later years. I feel bad about that.
More from Miriam Margolyes
View profile →When the media, en masse, reported my imminent demise.
Glenda Jackson said I was an amateur during rehearsal for The White Devil at the Old Vic. I called her a cow, but that was inadequate.
I wanted to be a doctor, like my father.
Every time I got a lucrative voiceover, I bought a picture. The most expensive was by James Gillray.
Becoming doubly incontinent.
Facebook and the need to pee.
More on failure & regret
- What has been your biggest disappointment? 366 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? 69 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
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Chris Bryant, Felicity Jones, Harriet Walter, Jenna Coleman, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mo Gilligan
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