Billie Piper has revealed she was "insanely jealous" of Britney Spears as the Toxic hitmaker reached "megastardom" while her own career "was dying out".
The I Hate Suzie star, 40, was just 13 years old when she entered the spotlight as a child actor before going on to enjoy a music career.
Billie made UK music history in 1998 when she topped the charts with her debut single, Because We Want To, at the age of 15, becoming the youngest female artist ever to hit number 1.
She rose to prominence at the same time as 41-year-old Britney who topped charts around the world in 1999 with her own music debut, Baby One More Time.
Billie's second album, Walk of Life, seemed promising but quickly fell off the charts. She described it as a "commercial bomb".
Britney, however, continued to top charts around the world. "My career was dying out as she was hitting megastardom," she said.
"I was insanely jealous of her, but also loved her and was a fan. But our paths never crossed," Billie said in an interview with The Guardian.
The Olivier Award-winning actress also discussed the second series of I Hate Suzie, in which she stars as an actress and singer trying to resurrect her career.
The show focuses on a woman in the public eye and Billie said she and co-creator Lucy Prebble had spoken a lot about Britney, Caroline Flack and Amy Winehouse.
"Obviously this stuff has been going on for years, but it’s the more contemporary stars who have had what people call a public meltdown," she said.
Reflecting on how stardom is portrayed in I Hate Suzie, Billie described fame as "awful" and said it can be "such a dark thing".
She also admitted that some of her happier moments and "freest times" are from before she was famous.
After joining the rebooted Doctor Who as companion Rose Tyler in 2005, Billie carved out a career as both an actress, writer and director.
She said she still loves to create things and make things "from the ground up". Talking about her future career, Billie admitted that she will probably act "less and less" and turn more to producing.
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