How close have you come to death?

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.

Recorded Liev Schreiber said elsewhere, not written here
A car accident in British Columbia 35-40 years ago. I was driving too quickly on a dirt road and lost control of the car, and it went off a cliff and got stuck in some treetops. We were not at all hurt; we actually just climbed out.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 September 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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I lived in New York during 9/11 and worked a couple of blocks away from the twin towers. I was looking when the first tower exploded and then when the second plane flew in and, before we had to evacuate, I did see people jump to their death.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 November 2025 source ↗
Rory Kinnear English actor
I inadvertently rubbed the milky residue of a toxic cactus plant into my eye while filming Women In Love in the desert in Namibia, and my body went into anaphylactic shock as the producer sped me to a clinic 50 miles away.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 August 2017 source ↗
Kim Gordon American musician and artist
When I was little, I took a bunch of pills out of the cabinet because I was bored, when I was supposed to be taking a nap. I had to have my stomach pumped.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 March 2020 source ↗
Mathew Horne English actor
Last Christmas I was clipped by a train. Mum was dying so my head was elsewhere. I was walking home and had to cross one of those crossings that say, “Stop, look and listen.” I didn’t do any of those things, and I had my headphones in so I couldn’t even hear the train. It clipped my left elbow.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 December 2019 source ↗

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Question Which moment embarrassed you most? Failure & regret
When I was 19 I worked at a gay bar while I was at drama school in London. One of the guys I worked with was Glaswegian and I learned the dialect from him. The acting teacher at the school said, “Liev, you’ve got the region but you’ve missed the character entirely” because I played Jimmy Boyle in a very camp Glaswegian accent.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 September 2024 source ↗

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