Passing wind on camera. I was doing a rather large movie and it was a closeup.
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
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.
I bumped into an old schoolteacher and her even more ancient and deaf sister, and she shouted to her, “Remember Esther? Now she writes books … ABOUT HERSELF.”
The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 July 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 122 →I was in Oliver! when I was 10 and I peed myself on stage in front of however many people the Palladium holds. It was the stuff of nightmares.
Leaving the stage from a panic attack in my 20s. Hearing the audience angry.
Going on stage and saying, “Good evening Lyon!” I was in Marseille.
More from Esther Freud
View profile →Talking about the hardships of my mother’s life – she would not approve.
Did I behave in the right way?
Safety or alarm, I can never decide which.
I can always see two points of view, which makes it hard to have a row.
Life’s too short to take offence.
An inability to see the other side.
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Jon Snow, Kelly Hoppen, Shobna Gulati, Kate Humble, Mark Radcliffe, Walton Goggins
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