Lucy Lawless: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

The question

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.

Lucy Lawless

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

A criminal pathologist. Then I saw a show called Quincy ME and realised I just wanted to play one on TV.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 August 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Sarah Hadland

A missionary in Africa – I think that was Sunday school-based.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 December 2025 source ↗

J.K. Rowling Novelist and screenwriter

Always… as soon as I knew what writers were, I wanted to be one. I’ve got the perfect temperament for a writer; perfectly happy alone in a room, making things up.

Recorded J.K. Rowling official website, 15 May 2004 source ↗

Andrew Ridgeley

That rather assumes I have grown up.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 December 2024 source ↗

Orlando Bloom English actor

An actor or stuntman: I loved Lee Majors in The Fall Guy.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 March 2021 source ↗

More from Lucy Lawless

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Question What is the most important lesson life has taught you? Time & hindsight

That there is time. I doggedly prioritise and pursue tasks, and the day seems to open out and everything does get done. Chill.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 August 2025 source ↗

Question What is the worst thing anyone has said to you? Failure & regret

They tend to say it behind my back.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 August 2025 source ↗

Question What scares you about getting older? Time & hindsight

I don’t want to get into an early death spiral, when you’re scaling down your life unnecessarily because you’ve already been there or done that. I never want to stop adventuring.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 August 2025 source ↗