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 Philippa Dunne said elsewhere, not written here
An actor. I watched a lot of TV because we lived in the countryside and the weather was so bad.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 June 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 195 →
Hayley Atwell British American actress
An adult, as quickly as possible. I wasn’t built for the psychological warfare of the playground.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 December 2018 source ↗
Adwoa Aboah British fashion model
I wanted to be a cooker. Not a cook: I wanted to actually be the stove.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 March 2019 source ↗
Rick Astley Singer, songwriter and radio presenter
When I was about 14 and got my first drum kit, I wanted to be a drummer in a band like the Police.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 October 2018 source ↗

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