10 questions for which you want an answer

Lately I have been enjoying episodes of Inside the Actor's Studio that are being replayed on Foxtel on a Friday night.  I enjoyed George Clooney, Brad Pitt and casts of various TV shows but my favourite so far had to be Jim Parsons from The Big Bang Theory.  It was nice to learn about his past as well as other projects he has done. I have to say, the best part of Inside the Actor's Studio is the 10 questions at the end that James Lipton asks every guest.  The questions that can be answered with one or two words, at most, a sentence.  Seemingly simple questions that reveal more about the interviewee than one might expect. 

Here is some information about where these questions originated and the various forms they've taken. 

James Lipton's Questions

He asks them at the end of every episode of Inside the Actor's Studio and has done for more than 30 years.  They are internationally famous and despite your scepticism, ten short answers to these questions will reveal quite a bit about a person. 

1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
4. What turns you off?
5. What is your favorite curse word?
6. What sound or noise do you love?
7. What sound or noise do you hate?
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
9. What profession would you not like to do?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Bernard Pivots Questionnaire

Adapted for his television show where Pivot interviewed writers of all genres, he had first read them in the book where Proust's answers were first published. 

1. What is your favorite word?
2. What is your least favorite word?
3. What is your favorite drug?
4. What sound or noise do you love?
5. What sound or noise do you hate?
6. What is your favorite curse word?
7. Who would you like to see on a new banknote?
8. What profession other than your own would you not like to attempt?
9. If you were reincarnated as some other plant or animal, what would it be?
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Marcel Proust's Questionnaires

These are called his questionnaires because he is perhaps the most famous writer to have his answers published.   The answers of many writers have been published.  These questions or something like them were apparently popular at dinner parties as they are thought to reveal so much about a person.  As you read them you will probably make some similarities to the classic conversation starters we tend to use on a first date.  Awkward! 

At age 13:

1. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
2. Where would you like to live?
3. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
4. To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
5. Who are your favorite fictional heroes?
6. Who are your favorite characters in history?
7. Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
8. Who are your favorite fictional heroines?
9. Who is your favorite painter?
10. Who is your favorite musician?
11. What quality do you most admire in a man?
12. What quality do you most admire in a woman?
13. What is your favorite virtue?
14. What is your favorite occupation?
15. Who would you have liked to be?

At age 20:

1. What is your most marked characteristic?
2. What quality do you most like in a man?
3. What quality do you most like in a woman?
4. What do you value most in your friends?
5. What is your principal defect?
6. What is your favorite occupation?
7. What is your dream of happiness?
8. What to your mind would be the greatest misfortune?
9. What would you like to be?
10. In what country would you like to live?
11. What is your favorite color?
12. What is your favorite flower?
13. What is your favorite bird?
14. Who are your favorite prose writers?
15. Who are your favoite poets?
16. Who are your favorite fictional heros?
17. Who are your favorite fictional heroines?
18. Who are your favorite composers?
19. Who are your favorite painters?
20. Who are your heroes in real life?
21. Who are your favorite heroines of history?
22. What are your favorite names?
23. What do you most dislike?
24. What historical figures do you most despise?
25. What event in military history do you most admire?
26. What reform do you most admire?
27. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
28. How would you like to die?
29. What is your present state of mind?
30. To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
31. What is your motto?

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