Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

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

Recorded Sofie Gråbøl said elsewhere, not written here
Jens Stoltenberg, for the way he united Norway after the massacre on Utøya in 2011.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2014 source ↗

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Dominic West English actor
Stacey Dooley. She does incredible documentaries – in one, she took spoiled British kids to the Philippines to work in a factory. It’s exactly what my kids need to watch.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 December 2018 source ↗
The exact median middle-aged black woman in the US. If hard work guaranteed success, she’d be the most successful person on the planet. But she isn’t, yet she keeps on going.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗
Julian Clary English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter
Dame Joan Collins. She insists on being happy whatever is going on and, despite being a Tory, is a very caring person.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 June 2022 source ↗

More from Sofie Gråbøl

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Question When were you happiest? Time & hindsight
Most recently, going to a 1D concert at Wembley with my nine-year-old daughter. Seeing her dream becoming real. The highlight was meeting a nice man in the elevator when it was over, who gave her Harry's autograph. Turned out to be his dad. To my daughter that was like meeting the archangel Gabriel.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2014 source ↗

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