The desire to please. It’s a losing battle.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
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
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I repeat stories (like my mum used to).
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2009 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →I’m argumentative.
My interest in Los Angeles.
Worrying at things.
More from Alison Steadman
View profile →I would never have smoked - I gave up years ago.
A critic once said she wanted to lift a carpet, put me under it and hold it down until I stopped moving.
Friendly and warm.
Playing a pregnant woman, and not being able to find the padding - I shoved a cardie under my dress, and spent the whole play walking around with a sleeve dragging along the floor.
Washing dishes when I was a student.
Lack of understanding and tolerance.
More on identity & self
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Ed Harris, Maureen O'Hara, Michael Flatley, John Malkovich, Audra McDonald, Julian Clary
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