Billie Piper (Secret Diary Of A Call Girl) Interview

There are big changes for both Billie Piper and Belle in the second series of the ITV2 drama Secret Diary Of A Call Girl.

While Belle embarks on a proper relationship, a pregnant Billie had to cope with filming the new series.

“One of the biggest changes is that Belle manages to fall in love,” explains Billie. “This puts pressure on her to change profession and I think it really freaks her out. It starts to dictate everything she does and she finds that overwhelming.

“Callum, who plays Belle’s boyfriend Alex, is a great guy and a really good actor who searches for the truth in things. He is emotionally gifted and very honest; the sort of actor who has lots of emotions at his fingertips ready to use in the tougher scenes. I find that impressive. We worked well together. I think it is a believable chemistry and we enjoyed each others company.”

Billie herself had to work long days even when she’d rather be sitting at home eating.

“I’m quite chilled out at work normally. I find other things in life much harder than being at work but this year I found the heat very uncomfortable and that coupled with the fact that I was growing every day, the lack of sleep and the desire to just sit on my arse and stuff my face was not that conducive to work.

“I had no food cravings other than wanting food constantly – I didn’t mind what it was. I was thirsty all the time and always needing the toilet which is really unhelpful when working to such a tight schedule but apart from the physical exhaustion it was fine. Everyone was great.”

Talking about the development of her character Billie says: “I was keen for us to see the kind of affect this career has on Belle a lot more this time around - her struggle and her constant striving and that it’s not all plain sailing. This really makes it sit in reality and it does feel a lot more real this year. Belle is plagued with anxieties and suddenly starts questioning her motives, what she ought to be doing and how much she is willing to gamble.

“I think we wanted to explore Hannah a bit more because last year was Belle loaded. We are dealing with two very different people and in the first series she spends a lot of time pointing out how she emotionally disconnects and how different she is at work to when she is sat in her living room.

“Spending more time as Hannah is nice because I’m not sat in the make-up chair for three hours being made up into a doll on a Monday morning at 6 o’clock. There is a slight relief to playing Hannah in most of the scenes. It is a different part to the character and it’s a lot more laid back and less try-hard. That means that when I am acting it is a bit more relaxed. It’s not as pronounced. There’s not as much walking around in stilettos and underwear trying to look amazing and feel sexually empowered.

“When I am playing Belle I have to play a sexually liberated, empowered, horny, young prostitute but unfortunately I felt like a sweating sea cow,” laughs Billie. “For obvious reasons I found those scenes a lot harder this year compared with series one. I didn’t want to physically expose myself in the same way which is why I had a body double for most of it. It was really helpful.”

In this series Belle takes a young, naïve call girl (Bambi, played by Ashley Madekwe) under her wing – albeit against her will at first.

“This young bolshy character kind of forces herself upon Belle and Belle feels as though she has to show her the ropes. She gets deeper and deeper into this relationship until she ends up coaching Bambi, but she is very careful and selective about what she tells her and the advice she gives her.

“She is quite aloof to begin with but she becomes quite a positive force in Bambi’s career. Her relationship with Stephanie (Cherie Lunghi) has altered somewhat - she is working independently now, she is no longer part of the agency.

“Belle’s relationship with her best mate Ben (Iddo Goldberg) is, as ever, strained. Obviously she has to introduce him to her new man which adds an interesting dynamic to the whole relationship.

“In terms of her clients, there is one episode where Belle considers breast augmentation so she falls victim to society’s idea of what is perfect and so that creates some problems. In another episode a young, disabled man is brought to Belle by his father. I think we handled well what could have been a sensitive subject. We took a delicate approach to the scenes which are in actual fact just an honest tale and very touchingly portrayed.”

Billie Piper is chuffed with the success of the first series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

“It makes me really happy that people were watching it, grasping it, understanding what it was; amusing and also thought provoking,” she explains.

“I was thrilled it was so successful here and really happy that it did so well in America. The audience really get it out there, which I found surprising as I thought they’d be more prudish. In actual fact American TV is really quite advanced in terms of what people are willing to talk about and their morality.”