The Big Issue – August 05, 2019

24 | BIGISSUE.COM 05-11 AUGUST 2019

TheBigIssue:Whathave you foundto bethedifferencebetweenbeingwell-knownand

beingacelebrity?

StaceyDooley:Youcan'tdenythatStrictlyputsyou on adifferentstage.You comeouttheotherend

withlotsof dealsbeingthrownatyou: ‘Doyou want to betheface of thiscampaign?’You can either

take thesegigsor getback to theday job, and you goto Nigeriaand Syria and you work reallybloody

hard.Ican’t makeadocumentaryaboutsustainabilitywithinfashionthenbetheface of afast

fashionbrand.You can't dothat. Yeah,themoney’sgreatbutit's notwhatyou believe.

Whenyou’refamous,and even moresoifyou workfor theBBC,dopeoplefeel entitledto have

an opinionabouteverythingyou say or do?

Ofcoursetheydo. I’m madeof hard stuff. I’m notgoingto crack everytimesomeonesays theydon’t

like me. I’m notfor everyone.Ireallymeanthis, itdoesn’thurt me. It doesn’tpenetrate.Peoplewill

judgeallthetime. Aslong asyou rate yourselfand thepeoplearoundyou –you feel lovedand they

rate you –that'swhatit’s allabout. You can drive yourself loopy trying to make sure everyone likes

you and it’ll neverhappen.

Your criticshave alwaysreferredto thefact you don’thave qualificationsand usedto sell

perfumeatLutonairportasifto say you shouldn’tbedoingwhatyou’redoing.Has thatbeen

replacedby themdismissingyou asacelebwhowonStrictly?

Ithinkit’s stillprobablyamixtureof thetwo. Somepeoplethink,‘Why hasshebeengiventhese

amazingopportunities?She’s notatrainedjournalist.’Butthat’ssuch atired argumentand it

doesn’treallywash now. I’ve beenmakingdocumentariesaboutcurrentaffairsissuesfor thelast12

years.OftenIhave muchmoreexperiencethan anybodywho’scomeoutof Oxbridge.I’ve beento

someof themosthostileenvironments of the world – Syria, Iraq, Honduras, the DRC – I have lots of

experienceIcan draw from.

Lasttimeyou spoketo The BigIssueyou saidone subjectyou wouldn’tcoverwas BokoHaramin

Nigeriabecauseof safetyconcerns,butnow you’vemadeafilmaboutthem.Whatchanged?

That was probablyone of thescariestthingsI’ve ever done.IjustthinkBoko Haramgetlessairtime

than Isis and theyare asradicaland ascrazy and asmuchof athreat.Boko Haramtend to target

schools.They'realwaysafter younggirls. Then whentheycapturethesegirls theyconvincethem

thattheonly way they’regoingto securethatplaceinparadiseisto gointo areallybusymarket

placeand blow themselvesup. Iwas inaplacecalledMaiduguri,whichisn’t safe. It's unpredictable.

OnenightIwas inbedand Icouldhear themilitaryshelling.It’s reallyfrighteningbuton the

otherhand thereare girls who are too frightened to go to school because they don’t want to get

kidnapped. It’s mad.

FightingBokoHaram

JiraDolewomen’s

networkintheir

heartbreakingappeal

for disappered girls

Images:

BBC

'Never go

in with

preconceived

ideas.

Nothing is

ever what

it seems’