HW
Everything. I’ve one of those brains that doesn’t quieten down.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 December 2017 source ↗
The question
What thought won't let you sleep?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Others on this question
View all 196 →
Courteney Cox
American actress and producer
Worrying about not being able to go back to sleep.
Guy Pearce
Australian actor
If I’ve spent money that I shouldn’t have or treated someone badly.
Lleyton Hewitt
Australian professional tennis player
My wife cleaning.
Big Narstie
British entertainer
Documentaries, my dog and Pornhub.
More from Harriet Walter
View profile →Judith Clark, on whom I based my character in the prison trilogy. She has served over 35 years and turned herself around. She is an inspiration.
I would never have gone on a diet. I would go back with the knowledge that not being perfect is fine.
I went to a funeral where they played Cheek To Cheek: Fred Astaire singing “Heaven. I’m in heaven… ” Everyone smiled. I’d like that.
An actor. When I was really young, I wanted to be a fishmonger’s wife.
I spent £600 on Rudolf Nureyev’s ballet shoes after he died. He was the biggest idol in my life and influenced me hugely.
My mother, because I didn’t appreciate until after she’d gone that she was a vulnerable human being. I just expected her to know everything and be everything.
More on daily life
- What one change would most improve the quality of your daily life? 206 answers
- What is an unusual habit or small pleasure you are oddly fond of? 31 answers
- When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do? 23 answers
- In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to? 22 answers
- In the last five years, what new belief, behaviour, or habit has most improved your life? 21 answers
- What does the first hour of your day look like? 17 answers
Also answered this
Kathleen Turner, Mandy Patinkin, Bertie Carvel, Jenny Agutter, Griff Rhys Jones, John Simm
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All daily life questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject