Samuel West: 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 Samuel West said elsewhere, not written here

A DJ. I still do.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 October 2020 source ↗

Others on this question

I remember really wanting to go into space. I liked the idea of flying.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 February 2025 source ↗

Bozoma Saint John Marketing executive; former chief marketing officer of Netflix

An obstetrician.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 October 2017 source ↗

Cheryl Strayed Author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things

By the time I was 19, I was saying, “I’m going to be a writer. This is my path.”

Recorded Tina Essmaker, The Great Discontent, 10 July 2012 source ↗

That rather assumes I have grown up.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 December 2024 source ↗

As someone who gave it a go.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 October 2020 source ↗

Greta Thunberg. For setting an example and fighting hatred with humour.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 October 2020 source ↗

I’d have done everything earlier and with more style.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 October 2020 source ↗

Decent arts funding.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 October 2020 source ↗

Search the directory for somebody in particular.