Dan Stevens: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

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 Dan Stevens said elsewhere, not written here

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

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

Others on this question

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David Harewood British actor and presenter

I had no idea. When I was a week away from leaving school, a teacher said, “We’ve been talking in the staffroom and we all think you should be an actor.” I thought, “That’s exactly what I want.” The rest is history.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2019 source ↗

Aidan Gillen Irish actor

A stuntman. Evel Knievel was an icon.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 May 2017 source ↗

Joss Stone English singer, songwriter, and actress

A veterinarian, but I decided against it because it required too many years of schooling; I wasn’t great at school.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 April 2021 source ↗

Rick Astley Singer, songwriter and radio presenter

When I was about 14 and got my first drum kit, I wanted to be a drummer in a band like the Police.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 October 2018 source ↗