Billie Piper has revealed that she had to switch off the Framing Britney Spears documentary because it made her “so angry”.
Released earlier this year, the New York Times film examined Spears’s career from teenage pop singer to global superstar, as well as the #FreeBritney campaign around her ongoing conservatorship.
Like Spears, I Hate Suzie star Piper also rose to fame at a very young age, topping the UK charts with her debut single “Because We Want To” in 1998 aged just 15.
Speaking to NME, Piper said that she had “really felt” parts of the documentary which discussed the expectations on Spears to be seen as both virginal and sexual at a young age.
“[Framing Britney Spears] made me so angry that I had to turn it off,” she said. “I know what a lot of that feels like, but she had it on a whole different level. She was world famous, whereas I was quite locally famous.”
Piper continued: “It makes me really angry, because a lot of that isn’t what it’s like to be a famous person, it’s what it feels like to be female and be called mad because you’re driven mad by something.
“You’re not born crazy. You’re driven mad by certain things. Then you’re used and hung out to dry. That’s what made me feel cross and sad.”
Piper has recently spoken about her experiences as a teenage pop star, admitting that she was “extremely desperate and lonely” after moving to London on her own to pursue her career.
The Doctor Who actor also said that she found herself in “very strange, very adult situations” due to her success.
In March, Spears finally addressed the documentary, claiming it was “embarrassing” and that she “cried for two weeks” after it was released.
