Willem Dafoe: Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.

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

Recorded Willem Dafoe said elsewhere, not written here

Punctuality (outside of work, of course).

Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2014 source ↗

Others on this question

Craving the kind of success I pretend to despise.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, January 2026 source ↗

Too controlling about silly things like timings or not having toxic cleaning products in the house.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

I talk too much.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 March 2025 source ↗

Fran Healy Scottish musician

I’m incredibly patient with a lot of stuff, but incredibly impatient with other things. I deplore the impatient side.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 July 2024 source ↗

Discovering Rome on my scooter with my wife when we first met.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2014 source ↗

Bob Dylan: his great gift as a poet and musician, his long, incorruptible career—and he continues to tour constantly.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2014 source ↗

How doesn’t matter—it’s when that matters. When I’m ready!

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, 24 June 2014 source ↗

A crippling accident.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, June 2014 source ↗

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