Helena Bonham Carter Biography

Having attended the South Hampstead School for Girls, Helena used the money she'd won in a national poetry competition to find an agent and buy herself an entry in a casting directory.

Her first real break came in 1983 when she appeared in ‘A Pattern Of Roses’, in which she played an Edwardian ghost, and she soon followed this up with her second film, the British drama ‘A Room with a View’. The movie saw her star with the likes of Maggie Smith, Daniel Day Lewis and Judi Dench and introduced her to a global audience.

The film was a huge success and secured her future in acting. In an effort to break from possible ‘English Rose’ typecasting, she upped sticks and moved to America, where she played Don Johnson's junkie fiancée in the smash hit show ‘Miami Vice’ (1987). During this time, she appeared in ‘A Hazard Of Hearts’, ‘The Vision’ and the classic ‘Howard's End’ (1992), which landed her a career-boosting Bafta Award nomination for best actress in a supporting role.

Successfully combining period and more contemporary roles, she played a stripper in ‘Dancing Queen’ and a victim in the darkly gothic ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ (1994), which apart from earning her a Saturn Award nomination for best actress, introduced her to a new partner. It was during the filming of the movie that she met Kenneth Branagh. The pair began a relationship that lasted until 1999.

Bonham Carter gained further recognition in the 1993 television film ‘Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald’, in which her portrayal of Marina Oswald led to another nomination - the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. The industry took notice of her again in 1995's ‘Margaret's Museum’, with 1997's ‘The Wings of the Dove’ bringing further critical acclaim, including an Academy Award nomination for best actress.

‘Fight Club’ (1999), alongside Brad Pitt was her first real Hollywood blockbuster roll, and in 2001 she donned a monkey suit to star in Tim Burton’s ‘Planet Of The Apes’. It was during the making of the film that Bonham Carter and Burton began their relationship. Apart from going on to start a family, Burton has cast Bonham Carter in several of his films, including ‘Big Fish’, ‘Corpse Bride’, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ and ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Bonham Carter has successfully avoided the Hollywood blockbuster trap, preferring instead to opt for low-budget roles that offer her more scope and less familiarity. Her mixed bag of movies includes the ‘Harry Potter’ series in which she played Bellatrix Lestrange, 2009's ‘The Gruffalo’ and 2010's ‘The King's Speech’.