Helena Bonham Carter Quotes

1. I was reading William Shawcross's biography of the Queen Mother, dressed in my witch outfit! And you know what? It was a really good mix; it was a therapeutic mix.


2. That's the thing with animated films - I often feel that puppets get the better parts compared to us normal actresses.

3. I've never had white teeth. To be honest, I've never been told to do any of those horrible things - get your teeth whitened or your nose straightened.

4. I was a mixture of being incredibly old for my age and incredibly backwards. I was born quite old, but then I stopped growing. I lived with my mum and dad till I was 30.

5. I was weird right from the start. It's just that you can't ever expect people to get you. And I do think that really did mess with my head, being well-known young, when you really don't know who you are.



6. I love changing what I look like because I always feel super strange whenever I do watch something that I'm in.

7. It was weird because I was pregnant, throughout that so it was weird being a pregnant witch. I was in a really bad mood but luckily, because I sleep with the director, he just sort of scheduled me so I only had to do it two nights.

8. Well, at least I'm not too thin. I eat.

9. Journalists are always calling my features Edwardian or Victorian, whatever that means. I am small, and people were smaller in those times. I'm pale and sickly - looking. I look fragile-like a doll. But sometimes I just wish I had less of a particular look, one that was more versatile.

10. I'm always attracted to lower budget, not because it's lower budget, but because they tend to be better scripts.

11. (on Tim  Burton) Most of my relationships were people in the business. Having said that, me and Tim don't really talk that much about work. He comes into my bit of the house every so often to vent but we don't really have very high, cultured conversations.

12. I just went and got an agent because I thought I can create my own world - you can't right your own life, but you can escape to a world where you can have control.

13. No matter how many modern parts I do, people still refer to me as Mrs. Costume Drama. Fight Club is a studio pic, and I've done very few of those. I've got a feeling it's going to change things for me.


14. There is no normality in life.

15. Tim also has enough confidence so that it always looks like a Tim Burton film, but it really is collaborative. You're allowed to do it your way but of course he's always going to choose his way.

16. A film actor is just a victim of directors and editors.

17. Not only was it nearly impossible to hear because of these huge rubber ears we had to wear, but we also had these huge furry hands which were absolutely useless, especially if you had to scratch yourself.

18. (on Tim Burton) No, I can never rely on Tim to make me pretty.

19. What I loved about playing the corpse is that obviously somebody else got to do the physical part. It appeals to the part of me that likes playing character parts and getting the chance to get away from my own physicality.




20. I just do things because I fancy the parts and the directors.

21. (on Tim Burton's reaction to Billy's birth) I think the birth was a bit of a shock to Tim. He was down there, shouting: "I'll catch it!" like he was a rugby ball or something. I was saying: "Look, Tim, it doesn't just shoot out." There's 48 hours of contractions and agony first. 

22. J.K. Rowling said Bellatrix's role was going to be significant in the last one, when I showed some reluctance in playing a tiny bit part. Up front, they said: "You're very significant in the last one." But significant could mean a lot of things. That could just mean a significant plot point. Doesn't necessarily equal big part.

23. I drink booze, I smoke, and I'm hooked on caffeine. I actually have been known to swear at times and belch and even raise my voice when provoked. And I'm not physically repressed!



24. I'm a very good sleeper.

25. (on her upcoming role as Enid Blyton) It's a long time since I have read such a well written script with as complex and fascinating a character as Enid. I hope I do her justice. And I hope I get to drink lashings of Ginger Beer. 

26. It's different when you're an actor and playing a part, but when it's just you, you feel immensely vulnerable have strangers prodding and prying.

27. (on presenting an award at the Oscars) That year I was asked to present something at the Oscars with Matthew Broderick. I didn't know what to wear, so I just got a dress from my cupboard, a tulle thing. I shoved a skirt of my mother's underneath it and tied my own bow on the front. It had flair, I suppose, but looked a nightmare.

28. I was sad that Corpse Bride was so short. I would've liked to have had her around for way longer. She doesn't actually have that many scenes.




29. (on her admiration for Danny Elfman) I've always wanted to be in a musical and no one would let me up till now. And so I had these two verses and I've always been an admirer of Danny Elfman and his music. You forget he was in Oingo Boingo. 

30. But it's often been the case, I've done so many countless small, independent films that really 3.2 people have seen, so you never know. You do it for the joy of the part and not necessarily expect anyone to see the final product.

31. (on "Ape School") I discovered that my normally hyper personality and movements are completely unsuitable for apes. I was in danger of flunking ape school at first until I began to get in touch with my inner ape!

32. The animators are absolutely extraordinary. It's mind-boggling.

33. (on working with Tim Burton) I definitely like working with the same person twice - and three times and four times - particularly if they're Tim, because he's pretty good. And also, it takes such a long time just to get to know somebody and trust someone and work out how they communicate and what they want. 

34. I don't think kids have a problem with death. It's us older ones who are nearer to it, that start being frightened.



35. I could play 5,000 drug addicts and I'd still be known as Mrs. Corset Queen.

36. My father fell really chronically ill when I was 13 and that's when I phoned up an agent and started to act.

37. (A word she says in her sleep) Bovine!

38. I enjoy those small chats you have when people come up and talk to you about your work. It only involves a few seconds of effort to be nice to those people, and I am very grateful for the kind words that people have taken the trouble to express to me in person.

39. I liked pretending to be other people: I could reinvent myself, reinvent my own reality.


40. It took me ages to grow into being a woman, into being happy with it.

41. You learn to rely on a few basic movements and use your voice to the greatest extent possible to convey your emotions. So there was a technical challenge there and a responsibility to create a character from behind the mask.

42. (on her personal assistant , Donna) Donna Coulling has been my personal assistant for ten years and secretly I wish that she'll stay forever because I'm not sure I could function without her. Everyone should have a Donna in their lives. She is my fairy godmother: every wish gets granted. From filing, correspondence, bills, and dealing with the monotonous and never-ending maintenance of house and household, from fixing everything that breaks down to making up for all my incompetence (particularly in the breaking down department) Ocado, pet sitting, there is little that Donna cannot do. "Superdon" is her nickname. She is supersonically efficient, - I've never had to ask her to do anything twice, in fact I barely have to ask once before its done, she has thoughtful initiative, is consistently cheery, has a lovely manner with people, utterly professional in a job where lines could get blurred, fun, discreet, and basically perfect. I would trust her with my life. In fact I do.

43. You can actually have a pitch button, you know, to get people on pitch.









44. I think I've still got a bit of a sado-masochistic streak in me, because if I'm not going to be restricted by corsets and covered in lace, then I still wind up wearing an ape-mask over my face. I do wonder how I get myself in these situations!

45. I am so not Mrs Style. I am not your Sienna or what have you. I'm the Antichrist of fashion.



46. I'm drawn to emotionally damaged characters because there is more to unlock.

47. With the number of people I ignore, I'm lucky I work at all in this town.

48. If you're a queen, you're powerless, so I'd probably demote myself and go shopping.





49. When you're up for an Oscar, you just get offered everything. It's fantastic, but a lot of it you're completely inappropriate for.

50. Fashion is taken so seriously, all the fun goes out of it. All these draconian rules, so actually women are not expressing themselves. They've become sheep.

51. I hate this image of me as a prim Edwardian. I want to shock everyone.








52. People do seem to have a weird obsession with the way I dress and look but I don't think when I reach the big pearly white gates that they will turn me away because I'm not dressed well enough, but if I do I'll be like: My God, they were right!

53. Multitasking? I can't even do two things at once. I can't even do one thing at once.





54. Our taste might be somewhat different to other people's, but when we watch Trinny and Susannah, we always think they make people look worse.

55. I remember I did think: "Wouldn't it be nice if Mr. Right moved in next door?"

56. I buy him colored shirts to get him out of the black. And sometimes he does actually wear them. But I certainly wouldn't change Tim. I did fall in love with him for what he is. He's adorable. He will always have the tinted glasses. And the hair.


57. My mom being a psychotherapist, I've been brought up with that whole psychoanalytical terrain.

58. You become very angry and depressed that you keep getting offered only these exceedingly demure and repressed roles. They're so not me. That's why films like Fight Club were so important to me because I think I confounded certain stereotypes and limited perceptions of what I could do as an actress.

59. All the ancient classic fairy tales have always been scary and dark.








60. My son is going through a Daddy thing. It's always Dada, Dada, Dada. I'm like: "What about me? Mama! I carried you around for nine months." What did Tim do? He just had sex with me. It was all fun for Tim. All gain.

61. Usually I'm frustrated when I look at my films and I don't believe that I've made a real transformation beyond my usual sets of gestures and expressions. I still have this nagging feeling that it's me, that I didn't create a unique character.

62. Wearing corsets all the time was completely incapacitating, as far as digestion goes.

63. I should get a few ribs taken out, because I'll be in a corset for the rest of my life.



64. When you write for very young children what they want is something familiar and safe and stereotyped.

65. I think my mouth just opens and I spontaneously say things that occur to me.

66. You can't ever put your self-definition in the hands of somebody who meets you for 15 minutes.







67. When I was young I had so many inferiority complexes. I had an inferiority complex because I didn't go to university. I had an inferiority complex because I didn't train. Then it gets tiring. And you do get bored of it.

68. It took me so many years to move out. I'm definitely a bit of a Peter Pan, reluctant to grow up. It all seemed really nice at home - why change it? Part of me would prefer not to have any responsibility whatsoever.

69. I also get fed up with the fact that casting agents and directors have this impression of me as being frail and petite. I find it very patronizing. I'm quite beefy and strong. I was a gymnast in school and I have lots of muscles.

70. 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, and the only woman death eater.




71. Mothers are the heart of any household. I try to spend as much time with my children as I possibly can while also fulfilling my professional duties. It is tricky, but I think I manage it.

72. I was like one of those nauseatingly nice children. I was very, very well behaved and boring.

73. People have lots of misconceptions about me. My mum, who is half French and half Spanish, gets outraged when I'm called quintessentially English. I owe my looks to my mum-which was 90 percent of getting my first job. And, some people would argue, 90 percent of my entire career.


74. Because I sleep with him he asked me to audition, you know?

75. Famous people come up to me, but I don't know who they are because my sight is so bad. It's always at the pool of the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills when I don't have my lenses in and my glasses are in my room.

76. It would be nice to really shed the corsets.





77. I loved doing all those costume dramas. I didn't think: "Ooh I've got to avoid being typecast" - you can't ever be dictated to by what other people think. I just do things because I fancy the parts and the directors.

78. People say: "You're still breastfeeding, that's so generous." Generous, no! It gives me boobs and it takes my thighs away! It's sort of like natural liposuction. I'd carry on breastfeeding for the rest of my life if I could.

79. I'm not dead and I don't have blue hair but some people say there are similarities. It is usually intolerable to watch myself onscreen but this time it's fine. I think it's beautiful and a real work of art.


80. Fairytales have always got to have that scary quality, as long as you make them laugh.

81. It didn't matter what you look like. You don't have to get up at 5:30 in the morning and there's a lot to be said for that. Corpse Bride can just play all my parts from now on and I'll just do the voice.

82. I have to struggle to change people's perceptions of me. I grew very frustrated with the perception that I'm this shy, retiring, inhibited aristocratic creature when I'm absolutely not like that at all. I think I'm much more outgoing and exuberant than my image.

83. It's easy for me to go back to being a kid. You know how kids can be like savages before they get civilized? There's that sadist quality. Y'know, like boys who like to pick apart an insect for the sake of it.

84. I'm the kind of actor who has ventured into escaping from me.

85. It was a challenge to be able to create a character without being able to use one's normal set of expressions. All the rubber and makeup attached to your face left you with only a modest range of facial movements.

86. I'm often criticized for what I wear. That's my main label in the press now: disastrous dresser!




87. The problems come when your personal life and relationships come under scrutiny in the press and often very uncomplimentary things are printed about you.


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