Andrea Riseborough
British actress
Helen Edmundson, because I wasn’t able to be a better friend at school.
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I never said it out loud, but I had this “Why aren’t you like the other mums?” energy towards my mum. Now I am an adult, I am happy that she came here from Ghana and remained who she was, but for a long time I resented her.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 August 2020 source ↗
Others on this question
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Vick Hope
British television and radio presenter
My younger self. I told myself so often that I was not good enough, that I was not smart enough, that I was not interesting enough, that I was boring and ugly. I wasn’t kind to my body, and I did and said things to myself that I would never do or say to a friend.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
British journalist
Every offended interviewee who thought I was asking hard questions for some personal reason. It’s never personal.
Anyone whose party I said I’d go to and didn’t turn up. I can get quite socially anxious at times.
More from Clara Amfo
View profile →When I was 11 and we got Sky TV.
Better bike lanes in London.
Run to the Sun by NERD. I’ve always loved that song. People always think that Pharrell [Williams] wrote it about a lover but it was about his grandmother, who passed away. My brother was a massive NERD fan – he got me into them and there’s something so pure and loving about that song. I want my funeral to be a joyous occasion, I want people to rave and to wear bright colours. But for the moment of reflection, I want that song.
I choked on a hard-boiled lemon sweet when I was 13. My brother Sam saved me.
Retaining my sense of self in an insecure job.
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