Billie Piper has reflected on the progress made in the entertainment industry in the wake of the MeToo movement, stating that while people’s behaviour is “better”, there are “still bad apples”.
The former Doctor Who star, 44, was asked about the state of the industry ahead of her role in the new Oscar-tipped film Elsinore, which sees Andrew Scott play Scottish actor Ian Charleson during the final months of his life.
In an interview with The Guardian, Piper was asked about a moment in the film in which Charleson, who was gay, was seen being pressured to be open about his sexuality to the public. The interviewer asks whether the situation is “different” today, nearly four decades on from Charleson’s death from AIDs.
“Whether it’s people coming out or #MeToo stuff, I don’t know how much has really changed,” says Piper. “Some things are arguably worse.
“This idea that women are always looking out for each other now, aligned in a sisterly way, is not strictly true,” she continued. “It’s still a bit of a bloodsport. We’re pitted against each other and it can breed hostility.
“People’s behaviour within the industry is better, I guess. You feel more supported, but there are still bad apples.”
Scott is tipped as a favourite to take home the Best Actor Oscar for his role in Elsinore, while Piper is also expected to be in contention for awards.
Elsewhere in the interview, the I Hate Suzie star drew a link between struggles in her personal life and her propensity to take on theatrical roles.
“It depends where you are in your personal life,” she said. “That’s why I understand Ian [Charleson]’s instinct to play Hamlet when he was losing his life. To some people, that might seem insane. But when I think back, I’ve only ever done theatre at points in my life where I’ve been struggling.
“I wonder if it’s just because, as an actor, that’s how you process the things that are happening to you,” she told the outlet. “Unconsciously, you’re drawn to something that is either going to help you escape what you’re experiencing personally, or help you process – or maybe a bit of both. If I had been in a better space personally when I did [the 2016 Young Vic revival of Federico García Lorca’s Yerma, directed by Elsinore’s Simon Stone] I actually think I would’ve found it harder to do.
At the time, Piper had recently separated from her second husband, the actor and current right-wing political activist Laurence Fox, and was raising their two sons.
“I was quite an open wound when I played that part so I had a physical need to put that somewhere,” she said.
“I was going through a separation. And the time before that, I was processing pregnancy. And the time before that, I was... There’s always been something that aligns with these monumental events in my personal life.”
Elsinore is in UK cinemas from 29 January 2027.
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