Kate Mosse: As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

The question

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

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.

Kate Mosse

English writer

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

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

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

Others on this question

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Sofia Coppola American filmmaker and actress

A magazine editor like Diana Vreeland.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 March 2023 source ↗

James Blunt Singer, songwriter and musician

A lawyer. I did work experience and was sent to the public gallery at the high court. The man in the dock was a 50-year-old accused of buggering a cat on the Metropolitan line. I decided to become a musician instead.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 November 2021 source ↗

Fearne Cotton

An air steward, because I loved airports. I wrote a letter to British Airways when I was seven and I’ve got the reply in the loft, which says, “You’re a bit young at seven but do stay in touch.” I was that kind of kid who was eager to start the ball rolling.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗

Joanna Scanlan British actress and writer