Tracy-Ann Oberman
Actor and writer
An actress. My family thought it was ridiculous, it was like saying you wanted to be an astronaut.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What happens when we die?
Death & what remains
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
What would you like to leave your children?
Death & what remains
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.
Composer, pirate, scientist, philosopher.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 July 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 222 →A detective. Or a writer. Or a poet.
Father John Misty
American musician
A mutant turtle ninja.
Emeli Sandé
British singer
I always wanted to be a singer, but I also wanted to be a doctor. I almost got there: I did four years and got my neuroscience BSc.
More from Ben Okri
View profile →Alchemy. Love. Resilience.
Looking after the flowerbed on my windowsill.
“You don’t stand a chance of succeeding as a writer in this country. The demographics are against you.” They were wrong. The only demographic that counts is the human heart.
We don’t die. We change realms. Life is eternal. Living is not. Live while you are alive.
Worrying at things.
The wisdom to become who they are in the truth of their spirit.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Tom Kerridge, Andy Serkis, Martin Sheen, Ralph Ineson, Carol Vorderman, Adam Zagajewski
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