Sally Phillips
British actress
At the birth of each of my children. Drugs were involved.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I’ve had a lot of happiness in my life: 1) the birth of my children; 2) getting into Lamda when I was 17; 3) meeting my wife; 4) and the renewal of our marriage vows and my 60th birthday.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 July 2016 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 576 →
Erin O'Connor
English model
French kissing on Tower Bridge under a full moon in the wee small hours.
Adwoa Aboah
British fashion model
On a walking safari in the middle of the Kenyan bush. I had no phone, no mirror, nothing, and I was really happy because I had no distractions.
Paul Whitehouse
Welsh comedian
When I came round after being seriously ill. I’d had a dose of morphine, the sun was shining and I thought, “Ah yes, I live!”
More from Brian Cox
View profile →My friend Billy Connolly, for his incredible sense of humour and wit. But greater than that is Billy’s courage and sheer chutzpah, to take his Parkinson’s and make it central to his brilliance as a performer.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 133 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 73 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 59 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 25 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 22 answers
Also answered this · A–Z
Abigail Breslin, Adeel Akhtar, Adrian Dunbar, Adrian Edmondson, Aidan Gillen, Alan Cumming
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject