Mariska Hargitay: What trait do you most dislike in other people?

The question

What trait do you most dislike in other people?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A verbatim standing question in The Guardian's rotating Q&A questionnaire, documented across respondents and years.

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

Mariska Hargitay

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The inability to listen. Inauthentic vocal registers. Calling anything other than food “delicious” or “yummy.”

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

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Kathy Lette Australian-British author

People who pretend to have perfect marriages. Perfect marriages are like orgasms – many of them are faked.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 June 2024 source ↗

Gina Lollobrigida

I don’t like false or opportunistic people.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, July 2013 source ↗

Shonda Rhimes

People who feed off of their misery. The whiners and complainers.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, October 2017 source ↗

Penny Lancaster

Lack of empathy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 September 2025 source ↗

More from Mariska Hargitay

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Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

When our family was complete.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

Question What does happiness look like for you when life is going well? Identity & self

My family. Together in a room with a sax, a piano, and a Ping-Pong table.

Recorded The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 19 January 2024 source ↗

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

People who do hard, honorable work in obscurity.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

Sharks. The ones in the ocean.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2024 source ↗

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