Paul Gross takes the Proust questionnaire

Canadian actor and director Paul Gross not only wrote, directed and starred in the film Hyena Road released this month, he also turned it into a novel. Set in an Afghanistan war zone and based on interviews with Canadian soldiers, Gross' fictional novel follows the mission of a Canadian sniper, an intelligence officer and a legendary mujahedeen warrior known as The Ghost. Paul Gross took the Proust questionnaire for The Next Chapter.

Name your favourite writers.

My favourite writers is a list far too long. I think at the moment I'm really quite taken with Richard Flanagan and Kate Atkinson, who I absolutely love right now. Historically, the greatest writer of all time is Shakespeare because - I agree with Harold Bloom - he really made up the human being, in all of our tropes and forms.

Tell me about your favourite character in fiction.

I think it would have to be Hamlet because I was lucky enough to get to be able to play that part at Stratford. And, ironically, it was a part I wasn't particularly interested in doing, It's a part that has altered me and will stay with me forever. I still find myself years after the performance wondering what he might think about something. 

What phrase do you most overuse?

I think I probably over-use, "Let me say this another way." I realize it's incredibly pedantic, but I actually think in my mind I'm trying to be clearer but I just end up saying the same thing over and over again.

What do you value most in your friends?

I think I would value loyalty most of all. I value friends who are there at the time when you need them.

Your favourite occupation?

That's very impossible because I have a few of them. But I suppose if someone put a gun to my head, my favourite occupation would be writing. Writing is both solitary, which I like, but it's also social, you can have a lot of people around you with the characters you're writing. I like to go back and forth in that way in writing; I can do both wherever I am.  

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

I've lived a very fortunate and very privileged life. Whatever I think about misery wouldn't appear to be so by others in more desperate situations. I think maybe common to all of us is loss, loss of someone you love. My father died recently, and I didn't have much of a conclusion about it, other than that death is fantastically stupid and it makes you cry. I think that the ongoing absence of someone who is permanently gone is a common human misery.

What is your principle defect?

I think that my main defect is that I'll sort of railroad conversations and drive them into some territory I'm interested in. I'm very domineering about that and I have tried over the years to modify it or soften it but it doesn't seem to be working. Often times, I'll see this glaze come over people's eyes, but I can't stop. It's as though I want them to fall completely to sleep. I'll keep working on it.

The quality you most admire in a man?

It really would be the capacity to listen, which I lack and I would like to achieve. The men that I most admire are those who are able to hear other people.

The quality you most admire in a woman?

I think in a woman it would be patience, and I only say that because my wife Martha is extraordinarily patient, without which I don't imagine we'd still be married.

What is your favourite journey?

Apart from the general journey of life itself, the most extraordinary thing I've done recently is to go into the Sahara for two weeks. We were way out on the great sand sea on this family trip and it was absolutely transformative. I think it was Paul Bowles who said that being in the desert is like an encounter with the absolute, and once you have met with the absolute, you must return. I feel that I need to go back again. It was an experience unlike any other.

What's your idea of perfect happiness?

I like to work really hard and then I like to go home and do nothing. If I can keep it going like that, I'm perfectly happy.

What's your greatest fear?

Not being able to work or go home.

What's your greatest regret?

I really regret not having tried to be a Formula One race car driver. It's the only thing in my life I wish I could be. I say that, but I did actually go to a couple of live races and sat in a race car and I thought, "I don't think I have the courage for this." But still in my head I have this fantasy that if I were allowed to live again, I would drive cars really fast.