John Lithgow answers the Proust questionnaire

What is your idea of ​​perfect happiness? Create something and feel proud of it.

What is your biggest waste? A toss-up: my apartment in New York or owning two horses, two luxuries that didn’t fit together.

What is your biggest regret? I don’t regret it, but there were some star-making roles that I turned down.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? Lucky for me: my wife, Mary.

What do you dislike most about your appearance? My posture. (I blame the constant stooping out of politeness.)

What is your biggest fear? Climate change, huhu.

On what occasion do you lie? Visit behind the scenes.

Which living person do you admire the most? Bill Moyer.

What trait do you regret most about yourself? Conflict aversion.

What trait do you hate the most in others? Three versions of the same trait: deception, hypocrisy, and manipulation.

What is your favorite journey? Drive from hill town to hill town in Tuscany and Umbria in January.

When and where are you happiest? Probably the curtain call for my final performance as King Lear.

Which living person do you despise the most? Vlad the terrible.

What words or phrases do you overuse the most? Great, great, great.

Which talent would you most like to have? Play the piano really well. (I can’t play a note.)

What is your current mood? Pretty good: Old man season two is out, four movies are coming out, rehearsals are about to begin for a new play in London, the 44th anniversary is coming up, and the Democrats are suddenly a party of joy .

If you could choose to come back, what would it be? One of two ponderosa pines (the other is Mary) on the shore of a lake in Montana.

What do you consider to be the lowest depth of suffering? Losing a child or grandchild.

What is your favorite career? It’s hard to compete with acting when you’re constantly being hired by good people.

What is your most outstanding characteristic? Optimism, I guess.

Who is your favorite writer? Shakespeare, PG Wodehouse, Mark Twain and his team of writers Third rock from the sun.

Who is your hero in real life? Currently, Tim Walz.

What is your favorite name? Ava, Archie and Oona (who happen to be my three grandchildren).

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Contentment in old age.

How do you want to die? In sleep, in the middle of happy dreams.

What do you value most in friends? Open, honest and above all, humorous.

What is your motto? Cultivate Humility: You never know when you will need it.