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.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A dress designer.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 August 2026 source ↗
An actor or stuntman: I loved Lee Majors in The Fall Guy.
I wanted to make women’s clothing. I also said that I wanted to be an artist; I don’t think I ever said I wanted to be an actress, but I remember thinking that would be fun.
When I was about 14 and got my first drum kit, I wanted to be a drummer in a band like the Police.
I wanted to be like Vidal Sassoon and wear the three-piece suit and be part of pop culture.
Don’t answer every question you’re asked.
At the election of Joe Biden, thinking we were out of the woods. Wrong.
Not keeping off the last 5lbs.
“Let’s face it, you’re not Ingrid Bergman.” I was 19 and he was a potential boyfriend. My only thought at the time was: “I’m not?”
Climate change.
Fifteen years ago, I totally forgot my lines on stage and was mortified. We skipped two pages of dialogue and took three minutes off the play – to the delight of the audience!
Robert Peston, Jim Kerr, Sarah Hadland, Marina Abramović, Emma Bunton, Alison Moyet
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