Alan Cumming
Scottish actor, producer, director, writer and presenter
A couple of summers ago, walking through a forest illuminated by fireflies, with my man and our dogs.
When were you happiest?
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
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.
Now, with time and wisdom you know your happy places.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 July 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 576 →
Gok Wan
British fashion consultant, author, chef and television presenter
Immersed in a bowl of noodles, sat around my parents' dining room table with all my family. Bliss!
Sam Taylor-Wood
British film director, artist and photographer
The two times I've been pregnant. With Jessie, I lay on a sofa and watched The West Wing for nine months.
Patti Smith
Musician, poet and photographer
Tramping through the woods in South Jersey in 1957 with my dog Bambi.
More from Melanie Blatt
View profile →I haven’t stopped crying since Glastonbury, because I’m on a massive comedown.
Horrible gigs at the beginning, when no one’s interested.
“Your career will be over if you have the baby.”To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why? My parents, for my teenage years. I tried to run away when I was 15. We lived in a fishing village in France and, with my boyfriend, I headed to Spain to sell arts and crafts on the beach. Mum came and took me home.
Just being remembered at all would be great.
I would put the brain that I have now into my 20-year-old body.
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
Adrian Edmondson, Alexander Armstrong, Alison Goldfrapp, Annie Lennox, Audra McDonald, Beth Ditto
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