Toby Stephens: If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change? — FLAPSS

The question

If you could revise one chapter of 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.

TS

Toby Stephens

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

There was a very large part of my 20s where I was an alcoholic, and an addict. When I lost my dad to cirrhosis, I knew that the only difference between us was that, tragically, he couldn’t stop whereas I could.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 203 →

Tuppence Middleton

I’d swap out a few boyfriends.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 May 2026 source ↗

I’d probably take out a lot of my 20s, when I was rude, annoying and a brat.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Sandi Toksvig Danish and British broadcaster, comedian and writer

I wouldn’t bother learning how to use logarithms, and I might give netball a miss.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 March 2018 source ↗

Ralf Little English actor, writer, former semi-professional footballer

I wouldn’t have tried to break up a fight when I was 17.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 February 2020 source ↗

More from Toby Stephens

View profile →

Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

Never ever think that things are going to turn out all right.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

To be completely alone.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret

I was in a restaurant with my daughter in Los Angeles and I had an accident involving a stomach upset. That was mortifying for both of us.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Question What most recently moved you to tears? Identity & self

I cry all the time. It’s embarrassing. I mostly cry when my children perform something at school. My wife regularly says, “Do you see any other fathers weeping?” But I can’t stop myself.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Question Which book do you still mean to read, and why has it stayed on your list? Taste & recommendation

Ulysses – I’ve tried many times and never got through it.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

Question What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? Failure & regret

A review of Phèdre said – because I was quite large at the time – Toby Stephens’s Hippolytus needs to get on a StairMaster.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 June 2026 source ↗

More on failure & regret

Also answered this

Aidan Gillen, Courtney Pine, Paterson Joseph, Heather Graham, Rupert Graves, Lionel Shriver

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

Report this answer