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IMDbPro

Helena Bonham Carter

  • Actress
  • Director
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 50077
Helena Bonham Carter
Take a closer look at the various roles Helena Bonham Carter has played throughout her acting career.
Play clip1:10
Helena Bonham Carter | Career Retrospective
99+ Videos
99+ Photos
Helena Bonham Carter is an actress of great versatility, one of the UK's finest and most successful.

Bonham Carter was born May 26, 1966 in Golders Green, London, England, the youngest of three children of Elena (née Propper de Callejón), a psychotherapist, and Raymond Bonham Carter, a merchant banker. Through her father, she is the great-granddaughter of former Prime Minister Herbert H. Asquith, and her blue-blooded family tree also contains Barons and Baronesses, diplomats, and a director, Bonham Carter's great-uncle Anthony Asquith, who made Pygmalion (1938) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), among others. Cousin Crispin Bonham-Carter is also an actor. Her maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejón, was a Spanish diplomat who was awarded the honorific Righteous Among the Nations, by Israel, for helping save Jews during World War II (Eduardo's own father was a Czech Jew). Helena's maternal grandmother, Hélène Fould-Springer, was from an upper-class Jewish family from France, Austria, and Germany, and later converted to her husband's Catholic faith.

Bonham Carter experienced family dramas during her childhood, including her father's stroke - which left him wheelchair-bound. She attended South Hampstead High School and Westminster School in London, and subsequently devoted herself to an acting career. That trajectory actually began in 1979 when, at age thirteen, she entered a national poetry writing competition and used her second place winnings to place her photo in the casting directory "Spotlight." She soon had her first agent and her first acting job, in a commercial, at age sixteen. She then landed a role in the made-for-TV movie A Pattern of Roses (1983), which subsequently led to her casting in the Merchant Ivory films A Room with a View (1985), director James Ivory's tasteful adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel, and Lady Jane (1986), giving a strong performance as the uncrowned Queen of England. She had roles in three other productions under the Merchant-Ivory banner (director Ivory, producer Ismail Merchant, and screenwriter Ruth Prawer Jhabvala): an uncredited appearance in Maurice (1987), and large roles in Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991) and Howards End (1992).

Often referred to as the "corset queen" or "English rose" because of her early work, Bonham Carter continued to surprise audiences with magnificent performances in a variety of roles from her more traditional corset-clad character in The Wings of the Dove (1997) and Shakespearian damsels to the dark and neurotic anti-heroines of Fight Club (1999). Her acclaimed performance in The Wings of the Dove (1997) earned her a Best Actress Academy Award nomination, a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination, a BAFTA Best Actress nomination, and a SAG Awards Best Actress nomination. It also won her a Best Actress Award from the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics, the Boston Society Film Critics, the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Texas Society of Film Critics, and the Southeastern Film Critics Association.

In the late 1990s, Bonham Carter embarked on the next phase of her career, moving from capable actress to compelling star. Audiences and critics had long been enchanted by her delicate beauty, evocative of another time and place. Her late '90s and early and mid 2000s roles included Mick Jackson's Live from Baghdad (2002), alongside Michael Keaton, receiving a nomination for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe; Paul Greengrass' The Theory of Flight (1998), in which she played a victim of motor neurone disease; Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night (1996), in which she played Olivia; opposite Woody Allen in his Mighty Aphrodite (1995); Mort Ransen's Margaret's Museum (1995); Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994); and Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990).

Other notable credits include her appearance with Steve Martin in Novocaine (2001), Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes, in which she played an ape, Thaddeus O'Sullivan's The Heart of Me (2002), opposite Paul Bettany, and Big Fish (2003), her second effort with Tim Burton, in which she appeared as a witch.

In between her films, Helena has managed a few television appearances, which include her portrayal of Jacqui Jackson in Magnificent 7 (2005), the tale of a mother struggling to raise seven children - three daughters and four autistic boys; as Anne Boleyn in the two-parter biopic of Henry VIII starring Ray Winstone; and as Morgan Le Fey, alongside Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson, in Merlin. Earlier television appearances include Michael Mann's Miami Vice (1984) as Don Johnson's junkie fiancée, and as a stripper who wins Rik Mayall's heart in Dancing Queen (1993). Helena has also appeared on stage, in productions of Trelawney of the Wells, The Barber of Seville, House of Bernarda Alba, The Chalk Garden, and Woman in White.

Bonham Carter was nominated for a Golden Globe for the fifth time for her role in partner Tim Burton's film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), for which Burton and co-star Johnny Depp were also nominated. For the role, she was awarded Best Actress at the Evening Standard British Film Awards 2008. Other 2000s work includes playing Mrs Bucket in Tim Burton's massive hit Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), providing the voices for the aristocratic Lady Campanula Tottington in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and for the eponymous dead heroine in Tim Burton's spooky Corpse Bride (2005), and co-starring in Conversations with Other Women (2005) opposite Aaron Eckhart.

After their meeting while filming Planet of the Apes (2001), Bonham Carter and Tim Burton made seven films together. They lived in adjoining residences in London, shared a connecting hallway, and have two children: Billy Ray Burton, born in 2003, and Nell Burton, who was born in 2007. Ironically, a mutual love of Sweeney Todd was part of the initial attraction for the pair. Bonham Carter has said in numerous interviews that her audition process for the role of Mrs. Lovett was the most grueling of her career and that, ultimately, it was Sondheim who she had to convince that she was right for the role.
BornMay 26, 1966
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BornMay 26, 1966
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 50077
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars

Disney Stars In and Out of Character

Disney Stars In and Out of Character

Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, and more Disney stars in and out of character.
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Photos

Photos653

Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club (1999)
Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club (1999)
Helena Bonham Carter in Fight Club (1999)
Helena Bonham Carter and Millie Bobby Brown in Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter in The Crown (2016)
Helena Bonham Carter in The Crown (2016)
Helena Bonham Carter in The Crown (2016)

Known for

Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
7.3
  • Mrs. Lovett
  • 2007
Isabelle Allen in Les Misérables (2012)
Les Misérables
7.5
  • Madame Thénardier
  • 2012
Brad Pitt and Edward Norton in Fight Club (1999)
Fight Club
8.8
  • Marla Singer
  • 1999
Colin Firth in The King's Speech (2010)
The King's Speech
8.0
  • Queen Elizabeth
  • 2010

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Nolly
    • Completed
  • One Life
    • Post-production
  • The Land of Sometimes
    • (voice)
    • Pre-production
  • Helena Bonham Carter, David Thewlis, Henry Cavill, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Serrana Su-Ling Bliss, Abbie Hern, Gabriel Tierney, Susan Wokoma, Adeel Akhtar, Himesh Patel, Róisín Monaghan, Millie Bobby Brown, and Louis Partridge in Enola Holmes 2 (2022)
    Enola Holmes 2
  • Ten Percent (2022)
    Ten Percent
  • The House (2022)
    The House
    • (voice)
  • Greg Davies in The Cleaner (2021)
    The Cleaner
  • Apple Watch Series 6: It Already Does That
  • Clown (2020)
    Clown
    • (voice)
  • Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, and Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown (2016)
    The Crown
  • Helena Bonham Carter, Henry Cavill, Susan Wokoma, Adeel Akhtar, Sam Claflin, Millie Bobby Brown, and Louis Partridge in Enola Holmes (2020)
    Enola Holmes
  • Cinema Quarantino: Das Fone Hell (2020)
    Cinema Quarantino: Das Fone Hell
  • Dragonheart Vengeance (2020)
    Dragonheart Vengeance
    • (voice)
  • DFS: The Great Sofa Caper (2019)
    DFS: The Great Sofa Caper
    • (voice)
  • E. M. Forster: His Longest Journey
  • The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)
    The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
    • (voice)
  • Brian Blessed, Helena Bonham Carter, Kiefer Sutherland, and Charles Dance in Black Ops 4: Dead of the Night (2018)
    Black Ops 4: Dead of the Night
  • Sandra Bullock, Helena Bonham Carter, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, and Awkwafina in Ocean's Eight (2018)
    Ocean's Eight

Director

  • Wild Babies (2022)
    Wild Babies

Producer

  • Helena Bonham Carter and Hilary Swank in 55 Steps (2017)
    55 Steps
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

"The Crown" Stars Through the Years

"The Crown" Stars Through the Years

Take a look back at the careers of the cast, in photos.
See the entire gallery
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Photos

Videos150

Helena Bonham Carter | Career Retrospective
Clip 1:10
Helena Bonham Carter | Career Retrospective
Our Favorite On-Screen Witches
Clip 3:43
Our Favorite On-Screen Witches
"Bertie"
Clip 0:47
"Bertie"
"Chair"
Clip 0:44
"Chair"
"Enemy"
Clip 0:48
"Enemy"
"Drop Your Wands"
Clip 1:22
"Drop Your Wands"
"Cafe Attack"
Clip 1:07
"Cafe Attack"
Alice in Wonderland: "Progression Reel"
Clip 1:37
Alice in Wonderland: "Progression Reel"
"Curiouser and Curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland
Clip 0:54
"Curiouser and Curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland
"Tea Party" from Alice in Wonderland
Clip 0:54
"Tea Party" from Alice in Wonderland
"Potion Making" from Alice in Wonderland
Clip 0:55
"Potion Making" from Alice in Wonderland
"Off with His Head" from Alice in Wonderland
Clip 0:45
"Off with His Head" from Alice in Wonderland

Personal details

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    • May 26, 1966
    • Golders Green, London, England, UK
    • Elena Bonham Carter
    • H.H. Asquith(Great Grandparent)
  • Other works
    Played Rosalind in William Shakespeare's "As You Like It" - BBC Radio
  • Publicity listings
    • 16 Interviews
    • 13 Articles
    • 15 Pictorials
    • 23 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Stated in an interview that she kept one of the wands belonging to her character, Bellatrix LeStrange, and as a joke on her son's friends, whenever they decided to make noise or trouble in the house, or if she didn't like one of them, she would get the wand and act as Bellatrix to frighten them back into line.
  • Quotes
    I hate this image of me as a prim Edwardian. I want to shock everyone.
    • Often works with director Tim Burton, Timothy Spall and Johnny Depp

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