Losing one of my children, as there is no greater loss.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Climate change.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 256 →To lose the ability to do my work.
Jack Whitehall
English comedian, actor, presenter and writer
Turning into my father.
Shakin' Stevens
Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter
A world without music.
More from Stockard Channing
View profile →Fifteen years ago, I totally forgot my lines on stage and was mortified. We skipped two pages of dialogue and took three minutes off the play – to the delight of the audience!
Not keeping off the last 5lbs.
Don’t answer every question you’re asked.
“Let’s face it, you’re not Ingrid Bergman.” I was 19 and he was a potential boyfriend. My only thought at the time was: “I’m not?”
At the election of Joe Biden, thinking we were out of the woods. Wrong.
A dress designer.
More on identity & self
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 243 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 195 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 193 answers
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 158 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 111 answers
- What are you most proud of? 103 answers
Also answered this
Toby Stephens, Zack Polanski, Jean Smart, Harlan Coben, Tuppence Middleton, Takashi Murakami
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Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Proust Questionnaire questionnaire — 5 questions from the same format
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