Billie Piper facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Billie Piper
Piper at the 2019 Brussels Comic Con
Born	Leian Paul Piper (1982-09-22) 22 September 1982 (age 42) Swindon, Wiltshire, England
Education	Sylvia Young Theatre School
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	1998–present
Spouse(s)	Chris Evans ​ ​ (m. 2001; div. 2007)​ Laurence Fox ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2016)​
Partner(s)	Johnny Lloyd (2016–2023)
Children	3
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Genres	Pop dance-pop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1996–2003
Labels	Innocent Virgin

Billie Paul Piper (born 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She first became famous as a singer when she was only 15 years old. Her first song, "Because We Want To", went straight to number one on the UK Singles Chart. This made her the youngest female singer ever to achieve this! Her next song, "Girlfriend", also reached number one.

In 1998, Billie released her first album, Honey to the B. It was a huge success and sold many copies. Her second album, Walk of Life, came out in 2000 and included her third number-one song, "Day & Night". In 2003, Billie decided to stop her music career to focus on acting.

Billie Piper is well-known for playing Rose Tyler in the BBC One science fiction series Doctor Who. She was a main character from 2005 to 2006 and returned for special appearances in 2008, 2010, and 2013. She also helped create and starred in the TV series I Hate Suzie (2020–2022). For this role, she was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress.

Billie has also performed in many plays since 2007. In 2017, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her amazing performance in Yerma. She won a total of six Best Actress awards for this role, which is a record!

Early Life and Education

Billie Piper was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, England, on 22 September 1982. Her parents are Mandy Kent and Paul Piper. She has three brothers and sisters.

Billie started taking dance classes when she was five years old. When she was seven, she appeared in commercials for soft drinks in America. She also had a small role as an extra in the 1996 film Evita. Billie went to Bradon Forest School near Swindon. Around age 12, she won a scholarship to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London, a famous school for young performers.

Career Highlights

Music Career

Billie's career began when she was chosen to appear on a Saturday morning children's TV show called Scratchy & Co. She then got a role in a TV commercial for the pop music magazine Smash Hits.

At 15, she was offered a record deal. In 1998, she became the youngest artist to have a number one song in the UK with "Because We Want To". She used just "Billie" as her stage name back then. Her next song, "Girlfriend", also went straight to number one.

Her first album, Honey to the B, was released soon after. It reached number 14 on the UK Albums Chart and sold over 300,000 copies in the UK. It was also very popular in New Zealand.

At the 1998 Smash Hits Poll Winners' party, Billie was nominated for Best New Act and won the "Princess of Pop" award. She then released "She Wants You" and "Honey to the Bee" as singles, both reaching number three.

In 1999, Billie was nominated for two BRIT Awards. She also won two awards at the 1999 Smash Hits Poll Winners' party. She recorded a song called "Makin' My Way (Any Way That I Can)" for the movie Pokémon: The First Movie.

Piper in 2004

Billie then started working on her second album. She decided to use her full name, Billie Piper, for future releases. In May 2000, she had her third number-one song, "Day & Night".

Her second album, Walk of Life, was released in October 2000. It reached number 14 in the UK Album Chart. However, it wasn't as successful as her first album. The last song from the album, "Walk of Life", came out in December 2000 and reached number 25.

In January 2007, BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles started a campaign to get "Honey to the Bee" back into the top 100. This was to test new chart rules that counted song downloads. The campaign worked, and "Honey to the Bee" re-entered the UK singles chart at number 17, eight years after it was first released!

Film and Television Performances

In 2004, Billie appeared in the films The Calcium Kid and Things to Do Before You're 30. She also starred in the horror film Spirit Trap in 2005. Later that year, she played Hero in a modern BBC version of Much Ado About Nothing.

In 2005, Doctor Who returned to TV after many years. Billie was chosen to play Rose Tyler, the companion to the Ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston). Billie won the "Most Popular Actress" award at the National Television Awards in both 2005 and 2006 for her role in Doctor Who. BBC News even named her one of its "Faces of the Year" for 2005.

In 2006, Billie won The Times Breakthrough Award for successfully moving from singing to acting. She was also named "Best New TV Talent" by the Television and Radio Industries Club and "Best Actress" at the TV Quick and TV Choice Awards.

Billie left Doctor Who at the end of the second series in 2006, in an episode called "Doomsday". However, she returned as Rose Tyler for three episodes in the fourth series in 2008. She appeared in the final episodes of that series: "Turn Left", "The Stolen Earth", and "Journey's End".

Piper and David Tennant filming the fourth series of Doctor Who in Penarth

Billie also starred in other TV shows. In December 2006, she played Sally Lockhart in a BBC adaptation of The Ruby in the Smoke. She continued this role in The Shadow in the North in 2007. In March 2007, she played Fanny Price in an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Mansfield Park for ITV1.

She returned as Rose Tyler in "The End of Time", a Doctor Who special in 2010. She also played Betty in the TV show A Passionate Woman in April 2010. In January 2013, Billie confirmed she would return for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who in the special episode "The Day of the Doctor" in November 2013. In this episode, she played a special character called "The Moment" who took the form of Rose's "Bad Wolf" personality.

Piper at the Doctor Who panel at the 2015 Oz Comic Con

From 2014 to 2016, Billie starred in the horror series Penny Dreadful as Brona Croft and later Lily. She was nominated for an award for her role in 2015.

Billie also returned to voice Rose Tyler in audio dramas for Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Adventures in 2017. She later got her own audio drama series called Rose Tyler: The Dimension Cannon, which started in 2019.

Billie Piper at the 2016 Phoenix Comicon

In 2019, Billie wrote, starred in, and directed her first film, Rare Beasts. She also appeared in Eternal Beauty. In August 2020, she co-created and starred in the TV series I Hate Suzie. She played Suzie Pickles, a former child star whose life changes after a phone hack. Critics praised her performance.

In 2021, it was announced that Billie would be in the film Catherine Called Birdy. In 2023, she was cast as Sam McAlister in Scoop, a Netflix film. In May 2024, it was announced she joined the cast of Wednesday season two.

Stage Work

Billie Piper made her debut on stage in a play called Treats in 2007.

From 2011 to 2012, she played Carly in Reasons to Be Pretty at the Almeida Theatre. Her performance received great reviews from many newspapers and critics. BBC Radio 4 called her "fantastic, completely brilliant."

Billie then performed at the Royal National Theatre in The Effect from 2012 to 2013. This play was very popular, and Billie was nominated for a "WhatsOnStage Best Actress" award. She was also nominated for "Best Actress" at the Olivier Awards and Evening Standard Theatre Awards for The Effect in 2013. In 2014, she also starred in Great Britain at the National Theatre.

Piper at the 2016 Magic City Con

In 2016, Billie starred in Yerma at the Young Vic theatre. Her performance was highly praised. The Guardian called her "earth-quaking," and The Stage described it as "a generation's greatest performance." She won all six of the available "Best Actress" awards for this role, including the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award. This made her the only actor to win all six awards for a single performance in British theatre history.

In August 2017, Yerma was shown live in over 700 cinemas across the UK. Many cinemas sold out, and the play was a trending topic on Twitter. Billie reprised her role in New York in 2018, where she also received excellent reviews. The New York Times called her performance "blisteringly powerful."

Personal Life

Billie Piper married TV presenter Chris Evans in a private ceremony in Las Vegas on 6 May 2001. She was 18 and he was 35. They separated in 2004 and divorced in May 2007.

Billie then married actor Laurence Fox on 31 December 2007. They have two sons together. They divorced in May 2016.

Billie began dating Johnny Lloyd, the lead singer of the band Tribes, in 2016. Their daughter was born on 2 January 2019. The couple separated in 2023.

Filmography

Film

Television

Audio

Theatre

Discography

• Honey to the B (1998)
• Walk of Life (2000)

Accolades

Billie Piper has won and been nominated for over 70 awards! During her music career, she was nominated for two BRIT Awards in 1999.

For her acting, she won two National Television Awards in 2005 and 2006 for her role in Doctor Who. She has also been nominated for two British Academy Television Awards for her performances in Collateral (2018) and I Hate Suzie (2020–2022).

For her role in the 2016 play Yerma, Billie won a total of six "Best Actress" awards, including the famous Laurence Olivier Award. This makes her the only actor to have won all the major UK theatre "Best Actress" awards for a single performance!

See also

• List of British actors