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 Jo Nesbø said elsewhere, not written here
I wanted to play for Tottenham.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Patricia Hodge English actress
A ballet dancer, but it changed to being an actress when I got put in a school play.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 September 2018 source ↗
Dawn O'Porter British writer, director, and television presenter
A drunk woman who threw epic dinner parties.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
Romesh Ranganathan English actor and comedian
A comedian or rapper. You can tell by the way I’m dressed that I’m a frustrated rapper.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 August 2024 source ↗
Oti Mabuse South African dancer
A paediatrician, then I was like, I can’t dissect frogs! Then I fell in love with making things and understanding how things work.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2019 source ↗

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