Nora Ephron
Journalist, essayist, screenwriter and film director
The movies I made that didn't work.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What would you like to be remembered for?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
The day I had to stop playing football five years ago. I realised I couldn’t hack it any more.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 June 2022 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 372 →
Billy Porter
American actor and singer
The rejection that I have received from my own people.
Adrian Dunbar
Irish actor
Not having come from a class that understands how the world works.
Jay McInerney
American writer
That my critics remain healthy, despite violent attacks of spleen.
More from Ardal O'Hanlon
View profile →My dog wanting to go out for a wee.
Lack of self-doubt.
I have become progressively happier as I’ve got older. It’s to do with not striving as much.
People laughing at me, which is terrible for someone who makes a living out of making people laugh.
Sharper knives.
I’d like a manoeuvre called after me, in the way Heimlich has.
More on failure & regret
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- If you could edit your past, what would you change? 207 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 125 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 125 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 80 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 40 answers
Also answered this
Rory Kinnear, Liev Schreiber, David Jason, Eddie Marsan, Alison Steadman, Mary J Blige
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All failure & regret questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject