Growing up as a gay boy in a small town, you get used to people saying bad things pretty quickly.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 April 2023 source ↗
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.
Growing up as a gay boy in a small town, you get used to people saying bad things pretty quickly.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 April 2023 source ↗
People have said, “I wish you would die.” That’s the stark truth of being in the public eye – people dehumanise you and say ghastly things.
The melanoma has returned in your lung.
Some man in the street stopped me and said: “If you were a few inches taller you’d be dangerous.” I’ve no idea what he meant.
In an audition at the Royal Court, this man called out, “Were you trained?”
That I did everything I had to and I never gave up!
Sheer drops, like a precipice.
Do you have 10 pages? Once, I was dancing in a costume that was like a corset. During a move, the corset ripped and exploded, and I had to carry on doing the number practically in my jockstrap.
Follow your dream and never give up, because it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Ride the adventure!
I had to choreograph dancing cows for a commercial. I had to superimpose footage of dancing legs – some were mine – on to the cow. It was bonkers.
I don’t think anyone should deplore anything about themselves. You can always improve things, but by deploring you’re putting yourself on a losing streak.
Philippa Dunne, Chaka Khan, Stockard Channing, Monica Dolan, Justin Hawkins, Michelle Collins
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