Billie Piper
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Billie Piper is only 24 years old, but everything she does seems to make headlines. Whether offstage or on, she’s lived a life perpetually in the limelight, ever since her initial breakthrough as a teenage pop singer in 1998. As she currently enjoys her West End acting debut in a revival of Christopher Hampton’s 1976 play Treats, that situation remains unchanged. In fact, it’s been exacerbated by the fact that she’s reportedly dating one of her co-stars, Laurence Fox. This real-life state of affairs has added layers and frisson to her portrayal in Treats of a woman with a complicated personal life—her character, Ann, tries to choose between returning to an abusive but addictive relationship with a former boyfriend Dave (Kris Marshall) or staying with the tall, gawky office colleague Patrick (Fox) with which she has replaced him. She’s left her pop career behind her now and received praise upon her emergence as a television actress, particularly when she played the Doctor’s sidekick, Rose Tyler, in the hugely successful revival of Dr. Who. Now London critics have, for the most part, acclaimed the arrival of a major stage talent. In the words of the Sunday Telegraph critic, “Sometimes, startlingly and inexplicably, someone walks on to a stage from the most unlikely background and turns out to have it, that strange, elusive and indefinable quality that makes a star. Billie Piper, all of 24 years old, has it, undoubtedly, and she is—make no mistake about it—a real actor.” Theatre.com caught up with Piper before those glowing reviews came out and anxiety still clouded the lovely performer's eyes.
How do you feel about making your stage debut in this play?
I feel like the adrenalin and the nerves put you in this trance-like state, where you find it hard to judge what you’ve just done. I think that on reflection I’ll be able to decide what was good and what was bad, but at this point in the game I just feel like throwing up. But I think that’s normal, right?
It’s yet another first for you. You seem to keep reinventing yourself.
I am trying to have a go at a few different things and trying to stretch myself and give things a whirl and I hope that I can pull them off. But I think it’s important and I want to do it now, while I’m a bit younger. I don’t want to get too scared of doing things. I’m at a position in my life when I want to keep scaring myself, before I become a bit stale and maybe complacent.
Billie Piper in Treats
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There’s nothing complacent about being onstage in a play—or potentially more exposing.
I’m beginning to realise that. There’s nowhere to hide, but I don’t want to hide. I just want to have a go and hopefully be good. I’m working with two great actors and a great director, so I’m in good company. The boys have really helped me out massively—they’ve been very encouraging. Acting is what I always wanted to do. That’s always been my first love, but the pop career hijacked all of those plans. But I’m glad I did it in a way—it has opened many doors for me, though it closed a few, too.
You were the youngest person ever to debut at number one on the U.K. chart with "Because We Want To." How did you cope with the success?
I don’t know. I didn’t cope very well with it at all. It was fine initially, but then I found it a real struggle and it sent me slightly crazy. I knew I just had to do something I loved, or I would continue to feel like a charlatan for the rest of my life in the wrong career.
[AD]After you did two pop albums, you quit. Were you disillusioned with singing?
It wasn’t the singing, it was the industry. When you’re very young, it can stifle you, which is what it did to me. It’s very much about promotion rather than the craft or the art. I was not born with Mariah Carey’s voice—I don’t have a massive set of lungs on me and I can’t play instruments. So I always felt like I was lying. I’m the biggest fan of music, but I don’t have this urge or desire to write songs and perform them. I felt I was doing the wrong thing. But it taught me a lot about people and the world and travelling. So I took some time off, got married, and then I started thinking about the acting thing.
You married Chris Evans and your marriage was very much under the spotlight, as your life often is. How do you deal with all the attention?
I just ignore it. That’s my theory—I just forget about it and brush it off and pretend its not there. Otherwise, from past experience, it can eat you up and make you ill. Chris and I are still very good friends—we’ll always be mates. It was a difficult way to grow up. But, fortunately for me, I’ve had a great family and a great circle of friends who have kept me on the straight and narrow. But I’m not really interested in the fame and all that—I just like to keep working and grafting and trying new things and challenging my ideas.
Billie Piper in Treats
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How did you make the transition back to acting?
I went and did some classes in L.A., where I could be completely anonymous and become a student again, which was great. I didn’t do a great deal, but I was there for about three months about four or five years ago, and as soon as I came home, I got myself an agent and started working.
Is singing a thing of the past now?
I don’t think I would sing again now, no. I have really bad associations with singing now. I may do, but I’m just not ready to do it now.
What about a musical?
I’m a big fan of them, but I’d rather watch them than be up there. But who knows? I change my mind so quickly and so often that maybe that will become an option one day.
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