A Passionate Woman: Billie Piper plays Betty in the Fifties

Are you a fan of Kay Mellor?

“Yes, I loved Band Of Gold – it was my favourite show and one of the reasons I wanted to start acting. I couldn’t believe how compelling Samantha Morton was. It was a great series and Samantha was incredible. I’ve always loved Kay’s work.”

Did you feel pressured playing a character based on Kay’s mother?

“Naturally. It must have been quite emotional for Kay to watch this story being played out before her, however it was helpful and essential to have her around. Kay was able to paint a very detailed picture of her mother and she was keen for me to think about her mum in that situation.”

What drew you to the role of Betty Stevenson?

“I felt profoundly moved by the story. I’ve just had my first child and my marriage is young, it’s a testing time. I think Kay was reluctant to cast me – I begged for an audition. I felt confident with the accent but I’m sure that will be up for discussion! It was a tough job – lots of crying and screaming but well worth it though.”

Tell me about your character?

“Betty is a young wife – quite a peaceful character. She is emotional, sensitive, thoughtful, and compassionate. Not outspoken or feisty. Betty is very poor and lives in a block of flats with her husband, Donald. She loves her son, Mark – and it’s quite desperate love. She absolutely lives for him which plays out in the Eighties episode where Sue Johnston plays the role of Betty.”

Betty’s relationship with Donald seems complex – do you think she has ever been in love with him?

“Betty has an old fashioned relationship with her husband. He goes to work all day, doesn’t really talk to her that much, doesn’t ask her how she is doing – it’s all very practical. They don’t talk about how they are feeling. They both put up and shut up. Betty spent all day at home with the baby – she is not a modern woman, unlike her sister, Margaret.”

Betty seems to fall for Craze immediately…

“Betty is completely bowled over by Craze, this reckless polish neighbour who moves in. He is married to Moira who is the complete polar opposite to Betty. Moira is very liberal, outspoken, sexual – a great spirit which Betty is incredibly jealous of. I don’t think Betty has ever felt love or passion or lust like it before in her life. Craze sexually liberates her and teaches her things she never knew existed. Betty becomes obsessed with him which starts to become quite destructive.

“She has this enormous secret and she eventually confides in her sister Margaret – who is fiercely expressive, a rebel. She hates her husband and is desperate to sleep with someone else! She is so very different and the only one privy to Betty’s secret about Craze.”

Did you get to meet Sue Johnston, who plays Betty 30 years on?

“Yes, I did. We had a day’s crossover during filming – she’s so lovely and an amazing actress, I’ve always loved her. Sue sent me a lovely note to say if there is anything you want to know or talk about regarding the character to let her know.

“People change a lot over all those years and what happens when you are younger really shapes you as a person and so I didn’t want to mimic or do some imitation of her as Betty. We were doing our own interpretation of the character at that time – knowing what they know.”

Tell me about your character’s Fifties-style dresses?

“I really liked them. I find costumes massively helpful especially when you’re playing quite a well turned out character. Betty was obviously very poor although every button was sewn on properly; there were no loose hems, the collars were stiff – the clothes do start to relax after she meets Craze and they become more colourful and passionate! I love costumes and I love period costumes.

“It was freezing up there though and there aren’t enough clothes in the world to keep you warm – cold like I’ve never known it before!”

How do you think you’d have coped living Betty’s life the Fifties?

“I thought about it the whole time and it must have been just so hard. It’s not massively dissimilar to stories my Gran would tell me about how she brought her family up – seven kids, small house. It was so different for wives and mothers then. Never having enough money or having desires outside of the family home.

“Nowadays, we have a lot of opportunities as women to go out and work, socialise, confide in lots of people, network and we are endlessly banging on about how we feel. It was just taboo – those kinds of subjects. I have a very fortunate lifestyle.”