Do you have lingering regrets from decisions that were not yours?

[Widgetinacan]

Do you have a regret in your life which isn't really yours - in that it was someone else's decision?

In 1999, when I was 9 years old, I made it to the final round of casting for the character of Hermione in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I'd done several rounds and my parents were told that I was the favourite. It was an all-consuming experience, but in a really good, exciting way. In the end, of course, it went to Emma Watson. Apparently there was some doubt over me as my dad was slightly well known in UK entertainment, but not films. They didn't want the brand linked to comedy.

This has surfaced, I think, because my DD is really into the films now.

I work in TV and have done some presenting, but I often wonder "What if...?" I think I would have loved the experience of being Hermione. I'm sure my career would have been much more glistening than it is!

Silly to think that something that happened when I was a child can still make me feel regretful now. It wasn't even my decision.

Does anyone have anything like this to share?

Anyone else?

I got down to the last two for a job in TV production a few decades ago, and that would have been a very different life journey than the one I ended up on. I love my job, but working in TV seemed very exciting at the time and I have occasionally wondered what if?

Do you look like Emma Watson?! How different would your Hermione have been?

mine was more in terms of a relationship had the person suggested it it would have changed my entire life path so to speak

I'm not as classically pretty, which they said went in my favour. I matched the description of Hermione in the books more. A few years later, I saw the casting director who told me that the job would have been mine if it wasn't with the association with comedy. I have a different name from my dad's, but the connection would still have come out.

Which industry do you now work in?

I would have liked to have gone to university to study history. I had responsibilities including younger siblings and a sick mum to look after, so it wasn’t an option, I had to get a job. It would have been nice though.

I am an academic, and I love my job. I have opportunities to appear on TV and in media if I want them, but I don't at all, it was more the world that I thought might be interesting.

No regrets in my case, just a Sliding Doors moment.

@Widgetinacan it's not really a regret if it's someone else's decision is it?

Can we still be royally pissed off about something that happened years ago and that we had no control over? Yes, absolutely.