Jo Nesbø: What did you want to be when you were growing up? — FLAPSS

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 Jo Nesbø said elsewhere, not written here

I wanted to play for Tottenham.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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First loved, then laid, then paid.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2025 source ↗

Shirley MacLaine American actress and author

At three, I knew I was too tall to be a ballerina, so that wasn’t going to happen.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 July 2017 source ↗

Busta Rhymes American rapper

I always wanted to be a rapper.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 December 2020 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 ↗

More from Jo Nesbø

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Question What would you like to be remembered for? Death & what remains

As a nice guy, but I’m not sure that is going to happen.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

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

The world doesn’t consist of bad and good people; it consists of people seeing things in a different way.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

Question What has been your biggest disappointment? Failure & regret

Tottenham this season.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

Question What is the worst job you have done? Craft & work

I worked on a trawler and I was seasick the whole time.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

Question How close have you come to death? Death & what remains

Rock climbing in Oslo. During abseiling, I hadn’t tied a knot at the end of the rope and almost slid out. I saw the end of the rope at the last second, so I stopped abseiling.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

Question What does love feel like? Relationships

Exultation, fear, quiet comfort and even hate.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2026 source ↗

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