Father John Misty: 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 Father John Misty said elsewhere, not written here

A mutant turtle ninja.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 July 2022 source ↗

Others on this question

First, I wanted to be a historian, then a drummer, and after that I just wanted to be employed. And I still do.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 April 2025 source ↗

Olivia Williams British actress

My mother says I had a plan to be a farmer’s wife and a violinist, going to concerts at the Royal Albert Hall in my tractor.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 April 2022 source ↗

Paul O'Grady British comedian, actor and television presenter

To work in a dry cleaner’s.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

Shirley Manson Scottish singer and songwriter; lead vocalist of Garbage

A ballerina. I remain rather disappointed that I became a rock star instead.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 May 2022 source ↗

I bore myself constantly.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 July 2022 source ↗

Getting thrown down a well.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 July 2022 source ↗

Whenever it was, it’s likely I was actually miserable, destitute and alone.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 July 2022 source ↗

Grace Zabriskie – her style; her woodworking.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 July 2022 source ↗

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