Omid Djalili
British stand-up comedian and actor
I'd edit out all the wrong people I surrounded myself with socially and professionally whom I thought I had to tolerate.
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Nothing: the good times, the bad times, they make your character.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 203 →I would be less naive.
The loss of Conrad.
Tracy-Ann Oberman
Actor and writer
I am a living self-help book – I’ve managed to train myself to never regret anything.
More from Julian Lloyd Webber
View profile →My cello. At the time, in 1983, it was £192,500.
Our beautiful cat was so ill that we were hours away from having her put down. Somehow, we’ve managed to nurse her back to full health again.
When I was 16, I’d just won full scholarships to both the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music, and felt like the world was my oyster.
A detective, a train driver on the underground and Leyton Orient’s centre forward.
Twice I should have died in car accidents when both my cars were written off. I was completely unhurt; the cello was completely unhurt, too. A complete miracle.
I’m president of my neighbourhood association. At my first meeting there was a discussion about developments the association should oppose. I said: “Nothing could be as bad as that horrible new house next to the church.” “I designed that,” the chairman replied. I shut up.
More on failure & regret
- What has been your biggest disappointment? 366 answers
- Who most deserves an apology from you, and why? 209 answers
- What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- Which moment embarrassed you most? 122 answers
- How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success? Do you have a favourite failure? 63 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 36 answers
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Corinne Bailey Rae, kd lang, Penny Lancaster, Jodie Whittaker, Naga Munchetty, Beverley Knight
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