Brendan Gleeson
Irish actor and director
Getting knocked down by a bus. The experience left me with the exhilaration of life enhanced.
How close have you come to death?
Question
What are you unwilling to optimise?
Values & belief
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the thing you are best at that nobody watching can see?
Craft & work
Question
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Daily life
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A recurring Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The London terror attack on 7/7 in 2005. I was in London the day before for the Olympic bid. When we won I thought, “I should stay over – it will be a great party tonight.” But I decided to go back to Manchester for training. Bombs went off on what would have been my route to the station.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
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Helen George
English actress
When I was young, I was pretty reckless – my 20s were quite hedonistic. I don’t know whether I’ve been close to death, but I may have been without realising.
Before transitioning, I had a severe eating disorder. The doctor said, “Your body’s shutting down and if you don’t improve your mental and physical wellbeing, you’ll die.” Shortly after that, I started transitioning medically and my eating disorder resolved.
Isabelle Huppert
French actress
At each of my theatre premieres.
More from Chris Hoy
View profile →I don't enjoy it but I know that I have got to live with [myself] if I'm not going to give it 100 per cent. The key thing is getting to the start line and knowing that I couldn't have done any more, that I didn't back off. You accept the pain, because if you didn't there would always be that element of doubt.
Max Levy, a German sprint cyclist who came second behind me a lot.
I just like to get to the start line knowing there was nothing else I could have done, that there wasn't a single session I didn't give 100 per cent. The physical certainty means you can relax mentally and let the performance come.
The real problem is that the pain actually gets worse. You have created massive acidosis in your muscles so there is a huge quantity of hydrogen ions and the pH in your blood changes. For 15 minutes you lie there thinking, "God, this is really bad. I'm going to die. It has never been this bad before." And every time you think exactly the same thing. You have to lie to yourself by saying you're not doing a second set. Then, without moving for 15 minutes, almost to the second, I would roll over and think, "OK, I think I can do a second set now." During those sessions I have never felt more alive or so close to death.
A road track car, a Porsche GT3. I’ve done the 24-hour race in Le Mans, which was a dream come true.
Jason Queally, a former teammate. He is older than me and was Olympic champion in Sydney. The way he mentored me, even though he knew I would be a rival, was amazing.
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