Floella Benjamin: As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

The question

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Floella Benjamin

British actress, presenter, and peer

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

A teacher. Teachers can change lives.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 February 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

Composer, pirate, scientist, philosopher.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2026 source ↗

Harriet Walter English actress

An actor. When I was really young, I wanted to be a fishmonger’s wife.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 December 2017 source ↗

Jack Whitehall English comedian, actor, presenter and writer

I was hellbent on being a Thunderbird. I was devastated when my parents finally told me it was a fictional organisation. Ruined my 18th.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 April 2023 source ↗

My brother Joe, he’s nine years older than me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 May 2026 source ↗

Smile by Nat King Cole.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 February 2017 source ↗

Happiness is like an elusive butterfly: whenever it comes my way, I grab it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 February 2017 source ↗

A boy called Norman. When I came to England, I didn’t know what kiss-chase was, and Norman kissed me on the lips, so I gave him a black eye.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 February 2017 source ↗

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