Aidan Gillen
Irish actor
I won a local art competition aged 10 – the first time I’d won anything.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Death & what remains
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
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. I feel wiser and calmer than I’ve ever been.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 April 2017 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Courtney Pine
British jazz musician
When I realised that I could be a musician. I was 16.
Patrisse Khan-Cullors
American artist and activist
In elementary school. I loved learning.
John Malkovich
Actor
Probably when our children were small, which is not to say I am unhappy now.
More from Cynthia Nixon
View profile →Michelle Obama (not that Barack wouldn’t be right up there). She seems genuinely to enjoy her life and do the best with all the tasks that she sets her mind to.
When I was about 15, I auditioned to play Alice In Wonderland on Broadway, and they cast someone else. I never got over it.
When I was 13, I was on a bicycle and got hit by a taxi in New York.
I Happen To Like New York: I tell people all the time, so they will be sure not to forget.
My children, and my sanity. For a child actor, I think it’s noteworthy.
Everybody, now and before, who was fleeing for their lives and wasn’t allowed into our country.
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Alan Dale, Chloë Sevigny, Shirley MacLaine, David Oyelowo, Steve Coogan, Viggo Mortensen
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