Douglas Booth: If you could edit your past, what would you change?

If you could edit your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

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

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

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

Recorded Douglas Booth said elsewhere, not written here

I’d give my younger self the lessons I’ve learned over the years, sparing myself the need to figure everything out so publicly.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 February 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Riz Ahmed British actor and rapper

I would care less about what people think.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 April 2021 source ↗

Ciarán Hinds

My penchant for having just one too many.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2025 source ↗

Felicity Jones British actress

I wouldn’t change anything. Life is what it is, you just have to get on with it.

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

Kevin Rowland British singer

I’d have stuck with the original Dexys Midnight Runners look we started in 1978, which became known as the New Romantic look a couple of years later. Our management and record label talked us out of it. Later, Duran Duran and Spandau came out with that look and that made us look old-fashioned.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 August 2025 source ↗

More from Douglas Booth

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Question What most recently made you cry? Identity & self

Watching the news. Human life seemed pretty cheap in 2024.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 February 2025 source ↗

Question Which living person do you most admire, and why? Values & belief

My friend Josie Naughton, the co‑founder and CEO of the charity Choose Love, which supports refugees and displaced people. She left her job working for Coldplay to dedicate her life to this cause.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 February 2025 source ↗