The question
What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I first met Richard, in 1992, on a British Council writers’ tour of Adelaide. We were drinking Australian lager while parakeets squawked rudely in the neighbourhood gumtrees.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 April 2022 source ↗
It’s hard to pick one time. I feel like I’m quite a happy person. My ninth birthday was epic, though.
When I was about to embark on filming The Lord Of The Rings, prior to any kind of fame or notoriety, full of hope and dreams, and excitement of the adventures ahead.
Living in Bangor, County Down, because my mum was still alive. She died when I was six.
Belfast 1994, when my first son was born.
The only drink I really, really like is champagne.
Talking in cliches. We have the most economic, resonant and versatile language in the world, yet so many people use it in a dull and boring way.
Working as the assistant to an agony aunt on a women’s magazine. When we didn’t get enough heartbreaking letters, we made them up.
Meryl Streep. For all her truthful and perfected offerings that have taken me to an “elsewhere”, in which my mind could feel both soothed and stimulated.
Like coming home.
The film of Restoration. A beautiful cast. An award-winning designer. A massive budget. A dog’s dinner.
Harry Enfield, Jacqueline Wilson, Lance Black, Abi Morgan, Fran Lebowitz, Nicholson Baker
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