Rita Wilson: Which living person do you most admire, and why?

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 Rita Wilson said elsewhere, not written here

I really admire Bonnie Raitt. She is a singer songwriter who has been doing what she has been doing for so many years and she recently won the song of the year Grammy for Just Like That. I loved the validation that creativity never stops, you can keep doing the things that you love.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 406 →

Jonathan Safran Foer American novelist

It's not a competition.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2012 source ↗

Olly Alexander English singer and actor

Jill Nalder. Lydia West played her character in It’s a Sin. She was on the wards with nurses caring for patients who were dying [of Aids] when lots of people wouldn’t go near them.

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

Martha Stewart

I know too many really good people to choose just one person—and that is not indecision.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, November 2009 source ↗

Stephen Dillane British actor

Russell Brand, for being his own man.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 January 2014 source ↗

More from Rita Wilson

View profile →

Question What is the worst job you have done? Craft & work

I was a ticket taker at the Universal Amphitheatre, an outdoor music venue. I saw everybody – Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, the Eagles, Elton. But, after that, we had to clean the women’s restrooms and that was horrible. There was a lot of drinking, a lot of vomiting, a lot of very messy bathrooms.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗

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

I was opening in a play in my 20s, and my agent came on opening night, brought flowers, took me out to dinner and then told me she was no longer going to be representing me.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 April 2023 source ↗