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

Kate Mosse English writer

First I wanted to be in the circus, then a tap dancer, then prime minister. I have failed at all three.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 March 2022 source ↗

Jenny Agutter English actress

When I was very little, I thought it might be possible to be an angel.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 January 2018 source ↗

Nick Grimshaw English television and radio presenter

Genuinely, the host of Radio 1’s Breakfast Show.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 June 2017 source ↗

A missionary in Africa – I think that was Sunday school-based.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 December 2025 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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