PH
A ballet dancer, but it changed to being an actress when I got put in a school play.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 September 2018 source ↗
The question
As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?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.
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Others on this question
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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.
An actress. I started when I was 13 at theatre school. My first assembly, Tom and I were sat next to each other.
Shirley Manson
Scottish singer and songwriter; lead vocalist of Garbage
A ballerina. I remain rather disappointed that I became a rock star instead.
Anne Enright
Novelist and short-story writer
When I was seven I wanted to be a nun. When I was eight, I wanted to be a boy so that I could be anything I wanted. Also, of course, I wanted to be Samantha in Bewitched.
More from Patricia Hodge
View profile →My piano, a boudoir grand. I’ve played since I was six.
The Queen. Her like has not been seen before and I doubt it will ever be again.
One of my favourite songs is Being Alive, from Company by Stephen Sondheim, but it would hardly be appropriate.
Two days ago, at a family wedding, remembering Richard, my cousin. He was 11 months younger than me and we were brought up like brother and sister for the first four years of our lives. He died of a brain tumour when he was 55.
Not applying myself enough at school.
Not having four children.
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