It started as a fluke. In 2017, a 15-year-old girl with silver hair and a baggy sweatshirt sat in a studio for a brand called Vanity Fair. She had 257,000 Instagram followers. Fast forward to 2026, and that same girl—now a global titan—has turned that simple Q&A into the most significant piece of performance art in modern music journalism. Honestly, if you haven't watched the Vanity Fair Billie Eilish "Same Interview" series, you’re missing the most honest map of fame ever drawn.
People think it’s just a PR stunt. They’re wrong. It’s a documentary of a human psyche being crushed and then rebuilt under the weight of the world watching.
The Evolution of the "Same Interview"
The premise is basic. Every year (mostly), Billie sits down and answers the exact same list of questions. "How many followers do you have?" "Who's the most famous person in your phone?" "Do you feel pressure?"
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But the magic isn't in the questions. It’s in the split-screen.
You see 15-year-old Billie, wide-eyed and terrified of a crowd of 500. Then you see 18-year-old Billie, looking hollowed out, admitting she doesn't like her life. By the time we hit the mid-2020s, like her recent reflections on the Hit Me Hard and Soft era, we see a woman who has finally stopped being a parody of herself.
Why we can't stop watching
There is something voyeuristic about it. Kinda uncomfortable, too. We are watching a child grow up in a time-lapse. In the early years, specifically 2018 and 2019, the shift was jarring. She went from "this is cool" to "I am miserable" in 12 months.
In the 2022 installment, she looked back at her 2020 self and basically called that version of Billie a "parody." She was wearing the clothes people expected. She was saying the things she thought a "depressed pop star" should say.
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It’s rare to see a celebrity call out their own authenticity in real-time.
The Body Image Narrative
You can’t talk about Vanity Fair Billie Eilish without talking about the "lurchy" comment or the diet pills. In one of the more heartbreaking segments from the 2021/2022 era, Billie opened up about her "horrible" relationship with her body.
She admitted to taking diet pills at age 12.
Twelve.
The internet's obsession with her baggy clothes wasn't just a fashion choice; it was a suit of armor. In the later interviews, she’s much more vocal about how the public "hates women’s bodies." She’s done playing the game of hiding. Whether it was the Vogue corset moment or just showing up in a tank top, she used the Vanity Fair platform to document her transition from hiding her body to owning the fact that it’s nobody’s business but hers.
The 2024-2026 Shift
Recently, the vibe has changed. If you’ve kept up with her latest features, including the 2024/2025 "career breakdown" videos, she’s smiling more. She’s talking about "good sex" and "lots of friendship."
- 2017: 257k followers. Biggest show: 500 people.
- 2022: 100M+ followers. 400+ concerts.
- 2026: Multiple Oscars, Grammys, and a settled sense of self.
She isn't that "sad girl" anymore. She’s a professional who knows how to protect her "sparkle"—a term she used in 2022 that she now looks back on with a mix of cringe and protectiveness.
What This Means for Music Journalism
Most celebrity interviews are boring. They are 20-minute junkets where the star is clearly thinking about their lunch.
Vanity Fair changed the format. By forcing Billie to face her younger selves, they removed the "scripted" feel. You can see her physically recoil when her 17-year-old self says something arrogant. You see her eyes well up when her 15-year-old self talks about her dog or her brother, Finneas.
It’s a "slow zoom" on the human soul.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Creators
If you're a fan or even just someone interested in how fame works, there are a few things to take away from the Vanity Fair Billie Eilish legacy:
- Context is everything. Never judge a person by a single snapshot in time. Billie’s 2018 interview is a cry for help; her 2024 interview is a victory lap.
- Growth isn't linear. She goes from happy to sad to "fake" to "real" over nearly a decade. That’s how life works for regular people, too.
- Document your own journey. You don't need Vanity Fair. Record a video of yourself once a year answering five questions. The "cringe" you feel watching it later is actually proof that you’ve evolved.
The series is reportedly moving to an "every other year" or "special release" format now because, frankly, doing it every year is a lot of pressure. But the archive is already there. It’s a blueprint for surviving the 21st century.
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To truly understand the impact, you should go back and watch the 2017 and 2022 versions side-by-side. Focus on her eyes. The difference between the girl who wanted to be famous and the woman who learned how to live with it is the most important story in pop culture today.
Check out the official Vanity Fair YouTube channel to see the full "Same Interview" playlist, especially the eighth-year reflections that dropped recently. Pay attention to how she discusses her creative process for Hit Me Hard and Soft versus her debut; the maturity in her technical language is as staggering as her emotional growth.