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Helena Bonham Carter

From Harry Potter Wiki

Helena Bonham Carter
Biographical information
Born

May 26, 1966

Nationality

English

Gender

Female

Height

5'3" (1.60 m)[1]

Career
In Harry Potter

Bellatrix Lestrange

Notable Roles
  • Sweeney Todd (2007)
  • Corpse Bride (2005)
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
  • Planet of the Apes (2001)
  • Hamlet (1990)

Helena Bonham Carter (born May 26, 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. Bonham Carter will be reprising her role as in both parts of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films.

Contents

[edit] Career

Bonham Carter has also starred in movies such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in which she acted with 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) and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew). 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 will be portraying the Queen of Hearts in her next film, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland directed by her partner, Tim Burton, whom she met while filming his version of Planet of the Apes.

[edit] Comments on her Character

Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange.

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.

[edit] Personal Life

Bonham Carter's domestic partner is director Tim Burton, with whom she has two children. 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.

[edit] External Links

[edit] Notes and references


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