John Waters
American filmmaker
A wonderful, terribly exciting disease.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 September 2008 source ↗
What does love feel like?
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Heady, dizzying, magical. Time stops.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 212 →Being present where you are.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 February 2026 source ↗
Craig Charles
English actor
Love makes me feel sick. I get sick with worry about my kids. It keeps me up at night.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 July 2024 source ↗
Gloria Estefan
Cuban-American singer and songwriter
Comforting, solid, unconditional, a drug.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 June 2019 source ↗
More from Michael Stipe
View profile →As kind, unafraid and boldly vulnerable – and immensely talented, like, mega supernova level. And super hot. And tall. With great skin.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
Anyone I slept with before the age of 27, because I was a selfish, cold-ass bitch.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
Scarlet fever, 1962. Hypothermia, 1974. Lightning strike, 1986.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
Can I say: maybe tomorrow?
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
Deciding what I wanted to do at 15 and, against all odds, doing it.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
A page from Jim Morrison’s final notebook – I bought it as a birthday gift for a friend.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 January 2020 source ↗
More on relationships
Also answered this · A–Z
Adam Clayton, Adam Kay, Adele Parks, Adjoa Andoh, Alex Hassell, Alison Moyet
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All relationships questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject