Billie Piper says classmate Amy Winehouse was bullied at school

Billie Piper shares what her childhood friend, the late Amy Winehouse, was like at school.

The Secret Diary of a Call Girl The actress joined Jessie Ware's Banking methods podcast this week, where he revealed that the beloved 'Rehab' singer was 'bullied' while the duo attended London's Sylvia Young Theater School.

“He was always cheeky. It's always been that way, you know. He did abstract things and I really liked him,” Piper recalls, adding, “He could do anything. Super smart, super bright, [she was] unlike any other girl in that school.”

However, Piper said that Winehouse's time at school was not “the smoothest ride”, as she was “bullied a lot at school because she did her own thing and liked to push buttons and do weird things”.

Winehouse, who died in 2011 aged 27, will be the subject of an upcoming biopic, Back to black. The film will chronicle the 'You Know I'm No Good' singer's rise to fame and will feature Marisa Abela playing the British icon.

A previously released trailer for the biopic features live performance footage, as well as footage of Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan) as proud father Mitch Winehouse and Jack O'Connell (Godless) as troubled husband Blake Fielder-Civil. It follows Winehouse's joy at her US success, her marriage to Fielder-Civil – including her dream of becoming a mum one day – and the pair's tumultuous, hot and cold relationship.

Film The Studio Canal directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (A million little pieces) and written by Matt Greenhalgh (Nowhere boy) was made with the support of the Winehouse estate, Universal Music Group and Sony Music Publishing and will feature a number of the singer's best-loved hits. The film is slated to hit theaters on May 17.