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 ↗
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.
I’ll never amount to anything. Who? He was my rival at dance school. It hurt and is something that I’ve always had in the back of my head to defy.
“And for you, sir?” It happens a lot.
On Angela's Ashes, Alan Parker said to me, 'You've got the Bafta, just get in the door.' I was walking along the street to go into a shop and he saw me milking it a bit. It was a really good piece of advice.
Oprah Winfrey. Considering the cards she was dealt at birth, what she has achieved is quite something.
That I did everything I had to and I never gave up!
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.
Meanness and lying.
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!
Brandi Carlile, Paul McKenna, Adam Kay, Michael Ball, Alison Steadman, Adam Clayton
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