Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2011
If I haven’t seen them in years and yet can pick up conversation like it was yesterday.
Arts and letters
People on the record here who work in arts and letters, and what they were asked.
120 people · 5,580 answers
Which quality in your friends matters most to you?
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
A fixed Vanity Fair Proust Questionnaire item asked across its three-decade archive, with independent variants in friendship and profile interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Novelist
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2023
I love that my true friends don’t think of me as that Judy, but as the Judy they’ve known for years, a woman, like them. And I love their senses of humor.
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2024
Kindness and laughter. If someone makes me laugh, I’m halfway in love.
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2017
A sense of humor and/or the ability to use a toilet correctly.
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2025
Honesty, trustworthiness, and a deep understanding of emotions.
Recorded · Vanity Fair · 2003
I think I value the same things everyone does—loyalty, a sense of humor, the ability to make campaign contributions.
How would you describe what love feels like to you?
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this exact standing prompt.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
English actor
Recorded · The Guardian · 2018
Warm contentment, and like nothing else exists.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2025
Overwhelming, discombobulating, irrational and unreasonable.
British actor and musician
Recorded · The Guardian · 2022
Not feeling like you have to be anywhere else.
English actor
Recorded · The Guardian · 2017
Like somebody’s painted the world a different colour.
Recorded · The Guardian · 2024
It feels like somebody giving you the keys to unlocking who you really are.
Canadian musician
Recorded · The Guardian · 2021
A deep awareness of all things beautiful and painful.
What has been most rewarding about being a parent?
Originally asked
Vogue, to one guest at a time, on camera, 73 Questions
Vogue asked close variants of Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, and Nicki Minaj between 2020 and 2023; the same prompt recurs independently in parenting interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Actor, director and novelist
Recorded · The Talks · 2012
I love being a father. I think there’s a great lie that we tell kids that pleasure creates happiness.
Musician, singer and songwriter
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 2004
Boy, being a parent is a hard job, I think, because in parenting you want your kids to like you. Too much sometimes.
Actor, director and producer
Recorded · The Talks · 2015
Being a father teaches you very quickly that you are not the center of your own universe. That’s one of the gifts of having to wipe poop!
Some of the people here · A–Z
Adam Clayton, Alex Lawther, Alison Moyet, Alison Steadman, Andrew O’Hagan, Andrew Ridgeley, Arlene Phillips, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bear Grylls, Ben Okri, Billy Crudup, Brandi Carlile, Bruno Tonioli, Bryn Terfel, Charles Collingwood, Charles Dance, Ciarán Hinds, Cybill Shepherd, Daphne Guinness, David Guetta, David Hasselhoff, Dawn O’Porter, Dervla Kirwan, Douglas Booth, Ed Harris, Eleanor Tomlinson, Erin Doherty, Erin O'Connor, Esther Freud, Felicity Jones, Frank Bowling, George Takei, Giovanna Fletcher, Gloria Estefan, Graydon Carter, Gregory Porter, Hamza Yassin, Helen Skelton, Hugh Skinner, Indira Varma, Isabel Allende, Jack Davenport, Jack Whitehall, James Norton, Jane Asher, Jared Harris, Jason Donovan, Jenna Coleman, Johannes Radebe, John Waters, Joseph Fiennes, Julian Lloyd Webber, Julie Andrews, Juliet Stevenson, Justin Hawkins, Kate Humble, Kathy Lette, Katie Melua, Kelly Hoppen, Keren Woodward, Kerry Godliman, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Layton Williams, Lee Child, Lemn Sissay, Leona Lewis, Maggie O'Farrell, Marcus Brigstocke, Marcus Mumford, Mariella Frostrup, Marina Abramović, Marina Diamandis, Mark Bonnar, Mark Radcliffe, Maya Jama, Meghann Fahy, Michael Ball, Michael Flatley, Michelle Collins, Michelle Visage, Midge Ure, Mike Skinner, Milton Jones, Miriam Margolyes, Monica Dolan, Naga Munchetty, Natalie Imbruglia, Neil Gaiman, Nick Frost, Nigel Havers, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Nish Kumar, Nuala McGovern, Omid Djalili, Paul McKenna, Paula Wilcox, Pauline Black, Penny Lancaster, Peter Sarsgaard, Philippa Dunne, Philippa Gregory, Phoebe Dynevor, Rebecca Ferguson, Rebecca Lucy Taylor, Richard Schiff, Robert Carlyle, Romola Garai, Rosalind Eleazar, Russell Mael, Sandi Toksvig, Sarah Hadland, Sarah Perry, Seann Walsh, Shakin' Stevens, Sharleen Spiteri, Shirley Manson, Shobna Gulati, Siobhán McSweeney, Sofia Coppola, Stephanie Beacham
And more. Search the directory for somebody in particular.