Guy Pearce
Australian actor
I felt like I messed up my marriage. I don’t feel that way any more, but at the time I was devastated.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Not understanding the business side of my career enough. I could have probably been much wealthier than I am.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 February 2019 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 366 →
Tracey Ullman
British and American actress
Realising as I grew up that people don’t really know what they’re doing.
Angela Eagle
British politician
Being phoned by the prime minister and sacked from my role as a home office minister in front of 100 people I was about to speak to. But to be fair to Tony, he did appoint me in the first place.
Gina McKee
British actress
As a kid, I conjured up a glorious image of Buckingham Palace. I was totally deflated when I saw it for real.
More from Engelbert Humperdinck
View profile →I just did it. I wanted to lose weight and respect my body more, and I’ve lost 31 pounds in three months.
My wife. I made mistakes in my early life and hurt her. Everybody thinks the grass is greener, but it’s not. To say sorry to her when she understands will be one of the greatest gifts God has given me.
I have to say I am an easy sob. I don’t mind, because there’s no harm in having a big man cry.
I don’t like to think about that.
A saxophonist, but destiny chose another path for me, and I’m glad it happened that way.
More on failure & regret
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 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
Also answered this
Joan Jett, Marc Almond, Lisa Marie Presley, Julie Andrews, Jake Shears, Rhys Ifans
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All failure & regret questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject