Some of the world’s top actors, singers, writers and other celebrities have looked back on their careers in a new bookazine for the Big Issue, on sale today (Thursday 3 October).
The ‘Letter To My Younger Self’ has been published in the Big Issue since 2009, a unique lens by which the iconic street magazine coaxes secrets and the most imitate reflections out of its guests. The new bookazine – available to buy online and on selected newsstands – compiles the very best of the bunch, including interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, will.i.am and Dame Julie Walters.
In one such letter, writer and actor Ruth Jones recalls the day hit sitcom Gavin & Staceywas commissioned. “I remember when Gavin and Stacey was given the green light,” she reflects. “I texted James [Corden, co-creator and co-star]. He was just getting off a plane and he stepped onto the tarmac and put his phone on, and there was a text saying, ‘O, Smithy. We’ve got the green light’. That was a great shared moment for both of us.”
Former Doctor Who star Billie Piper reflects nostalgically on her youth. “I would go back to my very early teens when I had full anonymity. No paranoia about people knowing who you are.
“Oasis or The Prodigy on the radio. Smoking fags, kissing everyone. These feelings of freedom and abundance.”
Other interviews in the bookazine include country music legend Dolly Parton, who reveals what she wishes she had said to Elvis Presley, and actor Rose McGowan, who reflects that the one piece of advice she’d give her young herself is “don’t go into Hollywood”.
