Billie Piper may have landed in the spotlight at the tender age of 15 as a singer, having climbed to the top of the charts in 1998 with her single ‘Because We Want To’ before joining the cast of Doctor Who in 2005 - but the star says fame is ‘poisonous and depressing’.
The 40-year-old actor, who is perhaps best known for her role as Rose Tyler in the BBC One sci-fi series, has revealed that her most fond and ‘freeing’ experiences occurred before she was famous.
Speaking to The Guardian about her upcoming season of I Hate Suzie, Billie said: “Fame is awful. It’s gross. It’s such a dark thing. And it will change your everyday experience of life in a way that is depressing, frankly, in my experience of it.
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“When I imagine some of my happiest, and my freest times, most of them are pre-fame.
“Not to be down on my kids! I’ve obviously had deeply meaningful experiences with my children, and they made me happier than anything, and that’s the truth, but I also really cherish the memories of not being famous.”
In spite of her success with the first series, which was released in 2020, the actor went on to explain how she hopes to act ‘less and less’ in the future.
She told the outlet: “It’s annoying because I love creating things. I love production. As I’m getting older, I’m enjoying making things from the ground up more and more and I think probably in the future, I’ll act less and less. I love what I do.
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“But I’m tiring of the nonsense of it all. To be honest, I have been since I was 19. It felt quite poisonous from a very early age.
"Now I’m so grateful that I had those experiences a long time ago, and now I can pretty much entirely focus on the work, and not the bulls***.”
Billie had her directorial debut in 2019 with Rare Beasts, which, according to the synopsis, is a film about ‘Mandy, a nihilistic young writer and mother who, while navigating her dysfunctional family and misogynistic workplace, falls for Pete, a traditionalist searching for a restored male identity.’
Billie is also the executive producer of I Hate Suzie and Secret Diary of a Call Girl and starred in the lead role in both, as well as having written the former series.
Featured Image Credit: Matt Crossick/PA Images/Alamy Stock PhotoTopics: TV and Film, Doctor Who, Celebrity