At school, I got my head stuck in a balustrade on the stairs at lunchtime. I had pupils laughing at me, parents laughing at me, teachers laughing at me and eventually, at the end of the day, the fire brigade laughing at me.
Which moment embarrassed you most?
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What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
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Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
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What keeps you awake at night?
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What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
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How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
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Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A verbatim recurring question in The Guardian's Q&A series.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Giving a speech in high school at a pep rally that wasn’t going so well and the dean unplugged the mic. Apparently, I was rambling and the spirit of the cafeteria was being weighed down.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 February 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 122 →In my 20s I was in a show called The Unauthorised Autobiography of Samantha Brown. The actor who played my dad messed up his lines and it made me laugh so hard that I ended up peeing my pants.
Farting in front of Colin Firth.
Edward Enninful
Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist
When my trousers nearly fell down at Buckingham Palace. I was there to collect my OBE, and the suspenders for the beautiful Alexander McQueen suit I’d had made for the occasion went missing. Naomi Campbell was with me and we had a good laugh about it.
More from Billy Crudup
View profile →If people would just follow my rules about how they get around the city.
Flashes of hubris.
Things I wish I’d done better that day.
I was going to a bar with friends and there was a line at the door. I’d been there before and asked the doorman to skip the line. He said, “Oh, I remember you, you were in Almost Famous, weren’t you?” And I said, “Yeah.” And he goes, “Yeah, get back in line.”
Slow but trying.
Yesterday because I was being paid to do it on stage.
More on failure & regret
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- 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
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 63 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
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