Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May, 1966) is an English actress, known for playing Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince films. She replaced Helen McCrory, who was originally going to play the role but could not because of her pregnancy and who is now playing Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix's sister. Bonham Carter will be reprising her role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and Part 2. Due to the similarity in appearance between Bellatrix and her sister Andromeda Tonks, fans of the series set up an online petition to have Helena play Andromeda in the film adaptations of Deathly Hallows. However, Andromeda was cut from the films.
Career
Bonham Carter has also starred in movies such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which she acted with
The Half Blood Prince Premiere
Freddie Highmore and Johnny Depp, playing the role of Mrs. Bucket. She also starred in Corpse Bride as the voice of the eponymous character, as well as Mrs. Lovett in the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, alongside Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) and Jamie Campbell Bower (Gellert Grindelwald). Her other well-known roles include Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View, Marla Singer in Fight Club, and Ophelia in the 1990 version of Hamlet. She portrayed the Red Queen of Hearts in an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland directed by her partner, Tim Burton, whom she met while filming his version of Planet of the Apes. "Alice in Winderland" also featured several other Harry Potter cast members including Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew), Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge), Frances de la Tour (Olympe Maxime), Paul Whitehouse (Sir Cadogan) and Harry Taylor (King's Cross Station Guard), along with Stephen Fry, the voice of the British Harry Potter audiobooks.
Comments on her character
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Helena Bonham Carter on the set of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bonham Carter said the following about playing Bellatrix Lestrange: "She's obviously as bonkers as they come. There's a bit of a child-like madness there... You know how kids can be like savages before they get civilised? There's that sadist quality. Y'know, like boys who like to pick apart an insect for the sake of it... She's a sadist. She's very sick. She's got problems. I think she's been in prison a bit too long. But I suspect even before prison she had problems. She's a racist, obsessed with blood purity... And she's in love with Voldemort, really."[2]
Bonham Carter also had a role in determining Bellatrix's wardrobe for the film: "So I had the idea of the corset. She looks like a warrior. I mean, Bellatrix does mean warrior. And she's also a bit of a fatale. She's the right hand of Voldemort..."[3]
Bonham Carter also has invited Emma Watson to her own home to discuss the character Hermione Granger and her mind set as Bonham Carter wanted to portray Hermione true to how Emma does when she takes Polyjuice Potion in the film adaptations of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Hermione transforms into Bellatrix.
Personal life
Bonham Carter's domestic partner is director Tim Burton, with whom she has two children: Billy-Ray and Nell Burton. She was once involved with Kenneth Branagh, who portrayed Gilderoy Lockhart in the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and whom she met while he was still married to Emma Thompson, who plays Sybill Trelawney the Harry Potter films. Bonham Carter and Burton are good friends, and frequent colleagues, of actor Johnny Depp.
Select filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Bellatrix Lestrange | |
| 2010 | Toast | Joan Potter | |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 | Bellatrix Lestrange | ||
| The King's Speech | Queen Elizabeth | ||
| Alice in Wonderland | Red Queen | Directed by Tim Burton | |
| 2009 | The Gruffalo | Voice of Mother Squirrel | TV movie |
| Enid | Enid Blyton | ||
| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Bellatrix Lestrange | ||
| Terminator Salvation | Dr. Serena Kogan | ||
| 2007 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett | Directed by Tim Burton |
| Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Bellatrix Lestrange | ||
| 2006 | Sixty Six | Esther Rubens | |
| 2005 | Magnificent 7 | Maggi Jackson | TV movie |
| Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | Voice of Lady Tottington | Video game | |
| Corpse Bride | Voice of Emily the Corpse Bride | Directed by Tim Burton | |
| Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit | Voice of Lady Tottington | ||
| Conversations with Other Women | Woman | ||
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Mrs. Bucket | ||
| 2004 | Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | Beatrice Baudelaire | Uncredited cameo |
| 2003 | Big Fish'' | Jenny - Young / Jenny - Senior / The Witch | Directed by Tim Burton |
| Henry VIII | Anne Boleyn | TV movie | |
| 2002 | Live from Baghdad | Ingrid Formanek | |
| Till Human Voices Wake Us | Ruby | ||
| The Heart of Me | Dinah | ||
| 2001 | Novocaine | Susan Ivey | |
| Planet of the Apes | Ari | Directed by Tim Burton | |
| Football | Mum | Short film | |
| 2000 | Carnivale | Voice of Milly | |
| 1999 | The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything | Lily | TV movie |
| Women Talking Dirty | Cora | ||
| Fight Club | Marla Singer | ||
| 1998 | The Theory of Flight | Jane Hatchard | |
| Sweet Revenge | Karen Knightly | ||
| Merlin | Morgan le Fay | TV mini-series | |
| 1997 | Keep the Aspidistra Flying | Rosemary | |
| The Wings of the Dove | Kate Croy | ||
| The Petticoat Expeditions | Narrator | Voice role | |
| 1996 | Portraits chinois | Ada | |
| Twelfth Night: Or What You Will | Olivia | ||
| The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century (TV series) | Vera Brittain | 1 episode Explosion | |
| 1995 | Jeremy Hardy Gives Good Sex | Herself | Voice role |
| Margaret's Museum | Margaret MacNeil | ||
| Mighty Aphrodite | Amanda Weinrib | ||
| 1994 | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Elizabeth | |
| Absolutely Fabulous (TV series) | Dream Saffron | 1 episode Hospital | |
| Butter | Dorothy | Short film | |
| A Dark Adapted Eye | Faith Severn (adult) | TV movie | |
| 1993 | Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald | Marina Oswald | |
| Dancing Queen | Pandora/Julie | ||
| 1992 | Howards End | Helen Schlegel | |
| 1991 | Brown Bear's Wedding | Voice of White Bear | TV movie |
| Where Angels Fear to Tread | Caroline Abbott | ||
| Jackanory (TV series) | Reader | 5 episodes | |
| 1990 | Hamlet | Ophelia | |
| 1989 | Getting It Right | Lady Minerva Munday | |
| Theatre Night (TV series) | Raina Petkoff | 1 episode Arms and the Man | |
| Francesco | Chiara Offreduccio | ||
| 1988 | Six Minutes with Ludwig | The Star | Short film |
| The Mask | Iris | ||
| 1987 | A Hazard of Hearts | Serena Staverley | TV movie |
| The Vision | Jo Marriner | TV movie | |
| Maurice | Lady at Cricket Match | Cameo role | |
| Miami Vice (TV series) | Dr. Theresa Lyons | 2 episodes Theresa The Savage | |
| 1986 | Lady Jane | Lady Jane Grey | |
| 1985 | A Room with a View | Lucy Honeychurch | |
| 1983 | A Pattern of Roses | Netty Bellinger | TV movie |
External Links
- Tribulation Online A Helena Bonham Carter/Bella Lestrange fansite
- Helena World A Helena Bonham Carter fansite
Helena Bonham Carter at the Internet Movie Database- Helena Bonham Carter on Wikipedia