Martin Clunes
English actor
On childhood family holidays in Mallorca, with my mum, dad and sister, Amanda.
When were you happiest?
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
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.
In my mid- to late-20s, in London, beginning to publish, living hand to mouth, having fun. Also now, when love and life and work have finally cohered.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Danny Cipriani
England rugby union player
When I am playing rugby.
Abi Morgan
Welsh playwright and screenwriter
Eating Marmite on toast just after the birth of my daughter in 2004.
Robert Bathurst
English theatre and television actor
When I turned 30, married and had a place in Brixton. My flailing twenties were over, though the flailing continues.
More from Ian McEwan
View profile →Having a gun held to my head at a May Day rally during the revolution in Grenada. I was mistaken for a CIA agent.
The BBC World Service followed by the dawn chorus.
Exhilarating. I’ve been extremely lucky in that the person I love, Annalena, happens to be my wife.
Angela Merkel. Under attack from all sides, she tries to keep alive the dreams of a tolerant, inclusive, open society.
To have grown up with my siblings. They were at least 10 years older than me.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 137 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 77 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 61 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 28 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
Abi Morgan, Adam Kay, Adrian Edmondson, Alan Cumming, Ann Patchett, Anne Enright
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