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.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
When I was a child, it was a bus driver or engine driver; then, when I was a teenager, I went to the theatre and wanted to be an actor.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 June 2017 source ↗
I wanted to be a vet, and then realised it’s only really dogs that I adore, and if someone had a poorly mouse, I would be the one needing medical assistance.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 May 2024 source ↗
A comedian or the guy who drives the little truck around airports that takes old ladies to their gate.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 January 2026 source ↗
A botanist or a florist.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2019 source ↗
The Wimpy in Kingston when I was 16. I’d recently become vegetarian, and there weren’t many veggie burgers in 1988.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
A really careful lobotomy, to switch off bits of my brain.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
I say it a lot to my kids when I’ve lost my temper, and I’ll save up a big one for when they are 18.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
“I don’t love you.”
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
When I am in Italy with the family, not thinking about work.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
It’s hard to beat David Attenborough. Everything he does is quality. I like people who make me proud to be British.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 January 2019 source ↗
Adam Clayton, Adrian Edmondson, Adwoa Aboah, Aidan Gillen, Alex Hassell, Alison Moyet
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