"Secret Diary of a Call Girl" Actress Billie Piper Shrugs Off Controversy
By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
Jan 6, 2009
Starring as an upscale prostitute on Showtime's "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," British actress Billie Piper finds she's still immersed in controversy, even as the show is going into its second season Jan. 18. "Some people hate me for doing this show and are disgusted that I would even consider it, and these are my friends," she tells us. "Other people often come up to me and say that they love the book and it's great to finally see it on screen. Certainly people in the UK are used to seeing me playing teenagers or women from the Jane Austin time so to suddenly step out and play this part, I think, in a way, it's offended a few people."
"Secret Diary of a Call Girl" Actress Billie Piper Shrugs Off Controversy
Despite any criticism, Piper, who recently became a mom for the first time, says it's still important for her as an actress to pick parts that satisfy her creatively. "I'm not sure that just because I'm a mum, I'm suddenly going to lose my passion for controversial pieces," she notes. "As much as it's nice to have the popularity vote, at the same time, you have to do what satisfies you professionally. Part of being an actor is exploring people's lives and different stories. You can't please everyone. It's a losing battle. And I don't really want to. I want to do things that make me feel interested."
As for the new season, Piper says there's plenty to keep fans coming back. "Belle falls in love for the first time in years and suddenly she has to consider what she does for a profession. You certainly find out more about her as a person as opposed to her as an escort so it's really interesting."
COMING BACK TO THE REAL: Co-creator of "The Real World" Jonathan Murray tells us that even though the long-running show is going into its 21st season, the newest season in Brooklyn will be getting back to the compelling stories that made people fall in love with the show in the first place.
"It's going to be 'Real World' old school. It's going to feel like some of the early seasons of the show," claims Murray about the show premiering tomorrow (1/7).
"We cast some really interesting young people who have a lot of depth. They head to New York pursuing their passions. There's no job set up for them," he adds, referring to other seasons when the roommates have worked together at a predetermined location.
This will also be the first season that the show follows eight roommates instead of seven, and they include an Iraq war veteran, a former beauty queen, a hip hop dancing hippie, a punk rock Mormon, a dolphin trainer, a computer geek, an abs model and an advocate for victims of abuse.
"They're a really diverse group and from what I've seen so far it's going to be a really fun, intriguing season. There are some powerful stories that take place."
THE BIG SCREEN SCENE: The Coen brothers brought the already-popular novelist Cormac McCarthy to the attention of a much bigger share of the mass audience when they turned his book "No Country for Old Men" into an Oscar-winning movie. Now McCarthy's latest novel, "The Road," will hit theaters in 2009 with Viggo Mortensen starring. His co-star Garret Dillahunt, who also had the distinction of being in "No Country for Old Men," says fans will be more than pleased with the adaptation. "It's incredibly faithful to the book and rightfully so. It's just as faithful to the book as 'No Country' was. You can never match the descriptive power of a book, but I think it's such a beautiful tale," claims Dillahunt of the story about a father and son who journey together many months after a great, unexplained cataclysm. "I think people are going to be pretty blown away by the thing."
Dillahunt's only regret is that he has never met the famous author of the words he has had the pleasure of reciting. "Cormac came on the set of 'No Country' and 'The Road,' but of course never when I was around, which is a shame because I'm a geek about writers," he admits. "I seldom get star struck, but when the writer comes around, I get completely tongue-tied. I'm dying to meet him. I think that's why I work so hard to get in his movies."
A SECOND HELPING: Gabrielle Union says she'd love the chance to return to "Ugly Betty" in her role as Renee, sister of Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) and former love interest of Daniel Meade (Eric Mabius). "I didn't die, so it's possible I could return," notes Gabrielle, who had a memorable meltdown in her last appearance, "but they have so many storylines going, I don't know. I would want to come back and do something equally as fabulous as I did before. I'm a fan of the show besides wanting to come back for my own selfish reasons."
With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.
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