Chris Bryant: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

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.

Recorded Chris Bryant said elsewhere, not written here

The Doctor in Doctor Who. I still do.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 September 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Lucy Worsley English historian

A spy, a witch and a nun.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 May 2017 source ↗

Ann Dowd American actress

A surgeon. I studied pre-med in Holy Cross College for four years and then I went to acting school.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 January 2022 source ↗

Andrew O’Hagan

Most days, I wanted to be Albrecht in the classical ballet Giselle, dancing until I dropped dead.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2026 source ↗

Eleanor Tomlinson English actress

I wanted to be a vet, and then realised it’s only really dogs that I adore, and if someone had a poorly mouse, I would be the one needing medical assistance.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 May 2024 source ↗