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.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
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When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
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What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
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.
An eye surgeon. I had an operation on my cornea when I was little, and remember being deeply enamoured with the team who looked after me. Subsequently, I was very disappointed to learn that a degree of scientific aptitude was required for the job, which ruled me out.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 October 2018 source ↗
Others on this question
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Anna Friel
English actress
A barrister or a pop star.
A comedian, and I may have achieved that.
Felicity Jones
British actress
A magazine editor.
More from Sue Perkins
View profile →Not accepting every dare.
Anna dared me to jump off a cliff in Menorca on holiday a couple of years ago. I did. I fell 30m through the air, hit the water at an odd angle and shattered my coccyx.
In my 20s, touring small arts centres with my best mate, performing sketch comedy to a handful of people.
Cleaning toilets in a hotel in Croydon when I was 16. A guest once gave me a half-eaten bag of pistachios as a tip, so there were perks.
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