Andrew O'Hagan: 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 Andrew O'Hagan said elsewhere, not written here

Most days, I wanted to be Albrecht in the classical ballet Giselle, dancing until I dropped dead.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

Suzanne Vega American singer-songwriter

An astronaut, a writer, a dancer.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 September 2017 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 ↗

A teacher and a nightclub singer.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 February 2024 source ↗

Malcolm Gladwell Staff writer at The New Yorker; author of The Tipping Point and Outliers

I didn’t want to be anything because I don’t look ahead. Even as a kid I thought it was pointless.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 April 2021 source ↗

As a good friend.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2026 source ↗

Like getting out of the right side of the bed every morning, even when you don’t.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2026 source ↗

For world capitalism to grind to a halt.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 July 2026 source ↗

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