Liv Ullmann

Proust Questionnaire

Norwegian muse of Ingmar Bergman (Persona, Scenes from a Marriage), best-selling author (Changing, Choices), and, more recently, acclaimed director (Sofie, Kristin Lavransdatter), Liv Ullmann has been an international screen icon for more than 30 years. This month, as her third feature as a director, Private Confessions, premieres, Ullmann pauses here to tout Hugo, Tolstoy, and Winnie-the-Pooh

FOR DETAILS, SEE CREDITS PAGE

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

To recognize and be recognized.

What is your current state of mind?

Peaceful.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

My urge to please.

On what occasion do you lie?

When I try to please.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Phoning and travel.

What is your favorite journey?

A spiritual one. Or through a great book—or through a great composer or through a great film or theater experience.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

I like my appearance—and have curiosity over the astonishing changes I have gone and shall go through.

Which living person do you most despise?

Talking heads on TV when they throw stones from their own crooked glass houses.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

What is your greatest regret?

Sometimes I said yes.

When and where were you happiest?

The 24 hours when I gave birth and looked at her in my arms and knew that life was a miracle.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

That I look forward to the day—as when I was young.

Where would you like to live?

Like I do—in different countries, but having roots in one.

What is your favorite occupation?

Creating.

What do you most value in your friends?

That they like to laugh. That they feel for others and that they have wisdom to share.

Who are your favorite writers?

Hamsun, Proust, Hugo, Tolstoy, and all the good poets of our world—and so many more writers who have changed my life.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

I liked Alice who wandered through the mirror, and all the animals in Winnie-the-Pooh.

How would you like to die?

Serene and with curiosity over "How will it be now?"

What is your motto?

"For whom the bell tolls—it tolls for me."