Jenna Coleman: What did you want to be when you were growing up? — FLAPSS

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 Jenna Coleman said elsewhere, not written here

I told my mum I wanted to be a swan.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 192 →

Madhur Jaffrey Actress, cook, and TV host

A doctor, a painter, an actress.

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

Dan Stevens English actor

Jobs that I saw on television, until I realised they were all played by actors – then I wanted to be an actor.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 November 2017 source ↗

Tracy-Ann Oberman Actor and writer

An actress. My family thought it was ridiculous, it was like saying you wanted to be an astronaut.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 August 2021 source ↗

Martin Kemp English musician and actor

I wanted to play for Arsenal. When I have a kick-around with my boy, I still feel as if someone’s going to spot me.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 July 2018 source ↗

More from Jenna Coleman

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Question Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought? Money & investment

A Matisse and my Leica camera.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

Question If you could edit your past, what would you change? Failure & regret

I would take away fear.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

Question What does love feel like? Relationships

Whole, full, lifted.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

Question When were you happiest? Time & hindsight

There was a moment in my early 20s when I’d finished Emmerdale and didn’t know what was next. I drove from LA to San Francisco listening to Tracy Chapman and it felt like one of those pure moments of uncomplicated joy.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

Question What most recently made you cry? Identity & self

I cry when I am overtired.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

Question What single thing would improve the quality of your life? Daily life

The ability to switch off.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 February 2019 source ↗

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