Romola Garai: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? — FLAPSS

The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

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.

RG

Romola Garai

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

In the orange blossom-filled streets of Seville, snogging on a park bench.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 February 2013 source ↗

Others on this question

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Filming Penny Dreadful for five months in the Republic of Ireland, sublime land of faeries and spontaneous song.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, August 2024 source ↗

Laura Kenny English cyclist

On my wedding day.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 January 2017 source ↗

Sue Johnston English actress

At the birth of my son, Joel, and then equally, last June, when my first grandchild, Rory, was born.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2013 source ↗

Sarah Silverman American comedian and actress

Tomorrow (hopefully).

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 May 2009 source ↗

More from Romola Garai

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Question If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change? Failure & regret

I’d probably take out a lot of my 20s, when I was rude, annoying and a brat.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

Anybody who works in frontline mental health services for the NHS.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Question How would you sum yourself up in three words? Identity & self

Confident, stressed, greedy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Question Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought? Money & investment

My short film, Scrubber, in 2011. At that time in my life it seemed easier to pay for it myself than to apply for funds.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Question What disappointment has stayed with you longest? Failure & regret

Realising I was never going to make it big in professional swing dance.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 February 2013 source ↗

Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret

I have a deep-rooted fear of being in trouble. I once tried to sneak into the back of a photography exhibition with my husband when one of our kids was in a pushchair. We’d arrived late and he suggested we go in through the gift shop and see the last room. As we poked our heads round the door, the security guard noticed us. I shouted, “That man’s trying to get in!”, then ran away.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

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