Olly Alexander: Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Which living person do you most admire, and why?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's Q&A repeatedly uses this prompt, sometimes dropping 'living' while retaining the same comparative judgment.

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

Recorded Olly Alexander said elsewhere, not written here

Jill Nalder. Lydia West played her character in It’s a Sin. She was on the wards with nurses caring for patients who were dying [of Aids] when lots of people wouldn’t go near them.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 March 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Ray Mears British woodsman and TV presenter

My wife, Ruth, because she holds the fort, making it possible for me to do what I do.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 September 2016 source ↗

Ethan Hawke Actor, director and novelist

Mike Leigh: his work is important.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2015 source ↗

Rory Kinnear English actor

My mother. Any child of a single parent, if they are in a relationship when they become a parent, thinks, “How the hell did you do it alone?”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 August 2017 source ↗

Natalie Imbruglia

Alanis Morissette because, in my earlier career, she was a big influence on me and had a feistiness that you didn’t see much of in women in the industry. Also, she has been very vocal about mental health issues.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 July 2026 source ↗