Without a doubt, one of the most well-liked and varied actresses working today is Helena Bonham Carter. This London-based artist has been working in the field for a very long time and continues to astound audiences in each and every role she takes on. Despite not having formal training in acting, Bonham Carter was born with a natural talent for it and has since amassed an amazing career that spans all genres.
In 1983, she made her acting debut in a minor supporting part in the television movie A Pattern of Flowers. Soon after, she began experimenting with theatre and film. Bonham Carter has consistently shown in her work that she has the acting talent to play characters who are complicated, multifaceted, and vastly different—characters who frequently stand out for their eccentricity or willingness to challenge the existing quo. Although she has participated in a variety of productions, the actress is most known for her roles in several of Tim Burton’s films. Tim Burton was also her longtime partner. It is important to call out Planet of the Apes, Big Fish, and Corpse Bride among them.
But, the actress’s career was not limited by her work with Burton; over the years, she has played a variety of very distinct characters in both cinema and television. In fact, Bonham Carter has received numerous accolades and awards during her career, including a BAFTA Award, an International Emmy Award, and two Academy Award nominations. This is a look back at some of one of the most distinctive figures in entertainment’s best TV and movie works.
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A Room With a View
In 1985, Bonham Carter made her acting debut in A Room With a View, which also served as her first main role. Helena plays Lucy, a little English girl who vacations in Florence with her cousin Charlotte, in this James Ivory film based on the same-named E. M. Forster novel. She becomes attracted to a young man named George while there, but she decides against dating him because her fiance, Cecil Vyse, is waiting for her at home. Yet, George’s later presence in England places Lucy in a difficult decision-making situation. Maggie Smith, Julian Sands, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Judi Dench also appear in this celebrated play alongside Bonham Carter.
Alice in Wonderland
One of the many projects that Bonham Carter and Burton have worked on together is Alice in Wonderland. Mia Wasikowska is the star of this 2010 production, which also stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Crispin Glover, and Matt Lucas. As a live-action adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s well-known tale, this Walt Disney Pictures production follows Alice, a very inquisitive and rebellious young girl who, after running away from a society she doesn’t feel a part of, enters Underland, a very special place where everyone is waiting for her to put an end to a dangerous conflict.
Played by Bonham Carter, the Red Queen is the ferocious and gloomy ruler of Underland. The primary actors from this play returned to their roles in Alice Through the Looking Glass in 2016, a sequel that received negative reviews and failed at the box office.
Corpse Bride
For Corpse Bride, a stop-motion animated movie that was a box office success and received a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards, among other honours, Bonham Carter, Burton, and Johnny Depp teamed up once more in 2005. In the Victorian-era drama Corpse Bride, Victor, the young son of a nouveau riche family, is going to marry Victoria, the daughter of an aristocratic family living in abject poverty, in an arranged union.
Victor practises his wedding vows in a neighbouring forest since he is anxious about the engagement and wants to avoid ruining the occasion. Victor ends the rehearsal by placing the ring on a tree branch. Little does he realise that this so-called branch is actually Emily’s finger, the corpse bride he recently and unknowingly wed. Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, and Albert Finney complete the Corpse Bride voice ensemble.
Fight Club
In the 1999 movie Fight Club, a man who is extremely dissatisfied with his life attends a number of support groups for issues he doesn’t even have in order to address his chronic insomnia. He meets soap salesman Tyler Durden on a flight, and their clandestine Fight Club eventually starts to take off, changing his life forever.
This David Fincher movie, which is based on the same-titled novel by Chuck Palahniuk, stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. Although it didn’t perform well at the box office, the divisive film Fight Club went on to become a cult favourite. Bonham Carter plays Marla, a lady who gradually has a complicated relationship with the main character and attends the same support groups.
Harry Potter
Both Bellatrix Lestrange, who is one of the Harry Potter film series’ most recognisable villains, and Bonham Carter play these roles. As a member of the cast of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix back in 2007, she made her first appearance in this film series. She remained in the cast through the last installment, playing the first female Death Eater and Lord Voldemort’s most devoted partner. In this iconic epic, Bonham Carter shared the screen with a number of well-known actors, including Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, and Ralph Fiennes.
Ocean’s 8
With an ensemble cast that included renowned actresses like Rihanna, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, and Helena Bonham Carter, Ocean’s 8 was destined to be a box office success in 2018. This Gary Ross movie is a prequel to Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy and centres on con artist Debbie Ocean, who escapes jail with the most daring scheme of her career: committing a heist during the yearly Met Gala. To do this, she assembles a group of skilled con artists with a variety of specialties who will execute the plan precisely in order to obtain the stolen goods. Bonham Carter portrays Rose Weil in Ocean’s 8, a fashion designer whose prime has long since passed.
The Cleaner
Although though Bonham Carter only had a little part in the British sitcom The Cleaner, her performance was noteworthy enough to be included on our list. The current run of this BBC One programme, which includes two seasons and a Christmas special in between, is based on a German sitcom. It centres on Wicky, a cleaning specialist whose everyday duties include checking on various crime scenes to make sure they are pristine. Naturally, he gets to meet some of the most bizarre people working a job like that.
The core cast of this show is made up of Greg Davies and Zita Sattar, as well as a number of other celebrities who appear in cameo roles over the seasons. The first episode of the show featured Bonham Carter as Sheila, a character who killed her 35-year-old husband out of boredom.
The Crown
Princess Margaret in The Crown, which received Bonham Carter numerous nominations and prizes, comes up on top of this list. After two seasons, this critically acclaimed Netflix series experienced a number of cast changes and added actors who could play the characters in later phases of their life. As a result, Margaret was played by Bonham Carter in the third season of the show. With her great acting abilities, Bonham Carter was able to successfully communicate Margaret’s numerous qualities. The actress co-starred in the drama for two seasons alongside performers such as Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, Ben Daniels, and Jason Watkins.
The King’s Speech
The King’s Speech brought Bonham Carter her second and most recent nomination for an Oscar Award—this time for Best Supporting Actress. In this Tom Hooper film, the soon-to-be King George VI must overcome his stuttering in order to distinguish himself as a political figure and give one of the most significant speeches of his career after his brother abdicates the crown. He does this with the aid of Lionel Logue, a speech and language therapist with somewhat unusual methods who would turn out to be his greatest asset.
In this 2010 movie, Colin Firth co-stars with Geoffrey Rush, Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, and Timothy Spall. In the movie The King’s Speech, Bonham Carter plays Queen Elizabeth, the husband of the main character and the person who introduced him to Logue.
The Wings of the Dove
In 1997, Bonham Carter received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the romantic drama The Wings of the Dove. Together with Charlotte Rampling, Alison Elliot, Linus Roache, Elizabeth McGovern, Michael Gambon, and Alex Jennings, the actress plays the title character in this Iain Softley movie, which was adapted from the same-titled Henry James novel.
The play centres on Kate, a little girl saved from a bleak future by her strict, affluent aunt Maude following her mother’s passing. Kate will be socialised and prepared to marry a wealthy man, according to Maude’s plan. Yet Kate’s heart defies her aunt’s wishes, and she falls in love with a modest journalist with whom she engages in an illicit relationship.
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