Billie Piper has reflected on her past friendship with late singer Amy Winehouse - saying she would be targeted by school bullies for being different.
The 41-year-old singer and actress was at school with You Know I’m No Good singer Amy at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London in the 1990s. Amy sadly passed away at the age of 27 in 2011 following years of drug and alcohol abuse - leaving behind a huge legacy in the music world thanks to her collection of chart topping albums and a trail of iconic singles.
Amy’s life is back in the spotlight as a biopic film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson about her life, titled Back To Black, is set to hit cinemas this month. Now in a new interview, Billie - who had her own chart topping pop career thot lasted from 1998 until 2000 - has cast her mind back to the years she spent in class alongside Amy when they were both young.
Reflecting on their past friendship while being interviewed by pop singer Jesse Ware on the podcast Table Manners, Billie said: "She was always cheeky. She was always like that, you know. She would do abstract stuff, and I really loved it. She could do everything. Super clever, super bright, unlike any other girl at that school.”
Amy died in 2011 at the age of 27 following years of drink and drug addiction (UK Press via Getty Images)
Marisa Abela plays Amy in a new biopic that hits cinemas this month (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Longchamp)Reflecting on the difficulties Amy faced during her school years, Billie added: “She got bullied quite a lot at school because she was doing her own thing, and she liked to push buttons, and do weird stuff. And I had a lot of space for that, but not many of the girls did. It wasn’t the easiest ride.”
Actress, 26, cast to play Amy Winehouse in late singer’s biopic Back To Black
Amy’s life is being brought to screens in Back To Black - due in cinemas next Friday. The film is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and is written by Matt Greenhalgh, who wrote hit films about Ian Curtis and John Lennon titled Control and Nowhere Boy respectively. However, early reactions to the film have not been kind.
Social media was ablaze last week when footage from the film went viral showing 27-year-old Industry actress Marisa Abela performing songs in scenes. Many took issue with the imitation that Marisa gave in scenes showing her singing the song You Know I’m No Good, released in 2006. After a TikTok clip went viral, many slammed the footage with one writing: “This is the worst Karaoke I’ve ever seen. Scrap it, just scrap it.”
Another blasted: “It sounds like Fergie did an Amy Winehouse impersonation during karaoke night.” While a further fan raged: “Everyone associated with it should be arrested and tossed into the sea.”
Marisa herself confessed last month she almost said no to taking on the role, fearing “no that's too much, too huge”. She told Harper’s Bazaar: "The more I got to know her, the more I felt a major connection to this spiky Jewish girl from London who had a lot to say and was really quite unafraid. I remembered how I felt when I was young, seeing that woman who was proud and cool, wearing a big Star of David in between a cleavage and a nice bra. I understood what a Friday-night dinner would look like in her home, the humour in her family.
“I loved how effervescent she was, how huge a soul, how she just permeated any room she was in. But also, her relationship to her art form, and wanting to be good. That was the most important thing. Once I framed her in that way, I felt I was in a position to take on this role. I never wanted to trick anyone. Sometimes you audition and you say you can ride a horse, speak Spanish or sword fight, when you can’t. I was never, ever going to do that here. I was not going to put myself on the chopping block unless I knew I could do this."
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