The question
Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them?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.
Film actress; twice winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress
Nelson Mandela.
Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, March 2005 source ↗
My parents, because they did what they did to give me the opportunities to do what I do. They left their lives behind in Australia and started again in their 40s in a new country.
Jo Brand. She’s a fighter, she’s successful, she’s a straight talker; she cares about people.
Eden Hazard, a true sportsman.
People ask me sometimes, who inspires you, Mr. President? Those quiet heroes all across this country -- some of your parents and grandparents who are sitting here -- no fanfare, no articles written about them, they just persevere. They just do their jobs. They meet their responsibilities. They don't quit. I'm only here because of them. They may not have set out to change the world, but in small, important ways, they did. They certainly changed mine.
The loss of physical, financial, and psychological independence.
Thrust into my profession without any training whatsoever, I had to just flounder and just find my way. It was an agonizing experience. It’s like jumping off a diving board in the Olympic contest without knowing how to swim or dive, and I just had to find my way. So one day, I said to Jimmy Cagney, “Jimmy, what is acting?” and he said, “I don’t know.” He said, “All I can tell you is whatever you say, mean it,” and I thought that marvelous counsel.
Carrie Fisher, John Malkovich, Jessica Brown Findlay, Olly Alexander, Hayley Atwell, Harriet Walter
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