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

Charlotte Church Welsh singer-songwriter and actress

A barrister, a vet or a singer.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 July 2022 source ↗

A pearl diver in Japan.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 May 2025 source ↗

Julia Ormond English actress

A mum, an airline stewardess or an artist.

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

Not a child, which was short-sighted of me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 March 2024 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 ↗

As a good friend.

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 ↗

The internet. Such potential for good and for levelling up the world, but such a quagmire in reality.

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

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