Laurie Metcalf: What does happiness look like for you when life is going well?

The question

What does happiness look like for you when life is going well?

Originally asked

Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire

Verbatim recurring item in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Laurie Metcalf

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Pizza and wine after performing for a great Saturday-night crowd on Broadway.

The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 21 February 2018 source ↗

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Zadie Smith Novelist and essayist

Reading quietly, in high grass, among loved ones (who are also quietly reading). Followed by a boozy lunch.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 4 November 2016 source ↗

Antonio Banderas

The very short instant right after accomplishing something very challenging.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 12 December 2019 source ↗

Keith McNally

Taking an overnight train in Europe.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 20 January 2026 source ↗

Carrie Brownstein

Reading a book with a dog asleep on either side of me.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 21 August 2018 source ↗

More from Laurie Metcalf

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Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

Anything underneath me in water I can’t see to the bottom of.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2018 source ↗

Question Which quality in your friends matters most to you? Relationships

Their ability to make me laugh from the gut.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 21 February 2018 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Ingratitude. Taking advantage of others.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2018 source ↗

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

My sister, who manages to see the positive in any situation.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2018 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

Impatience. The inability to ever finish a knitting project.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, February 2018 source ↗

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