Trivia

Stated in an interview that she kept one of the wands belonging to her character, Bellatrix LeStrange, and as a joke on her son's friends, whenever they decided to make noise or trouble in the house, or if she didn't like one of them, she would get the wand and act as Bellatrix to frighten them back into line.

Became romantically involved with her director Tim Burton after their Planet of the Apes (2001) wrapped. Instead of moving in with her in her Hampstead home in London, Burton bought two next-door houses which the couple both share today (2010).

She was denied admission to King's College, Cambridge University, not because of her grades or her test scores but because school officials were afraid that she would leave mid-term to pursue her acting career. Because of Cambridge's rejection, Helena decided to concentrate fully on acting.

She resided with her parents in the family home until her early thirties. She claimed this was simply because she had a very good relationship with them.

A fight between her and Gary Oldman in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) was deleted from the final film. She had been training for three weeks for the fight.

Was in a relationship with Tim Burton from 2001 to 2014. They have two children.

Close friends with Johnny Depp, who often works with her fiancé, Tim Burton. In fact, Depp is the godfather of her child with Burton, Billy Ray.

Her father was severely paralyzed by botched brain surgery in the 1980s.

Speaks French fluently.

Became the fifth actor to appear in two films to gross $1 billion with Alice in Wonderland (2010), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011). She is the first woman to achieve this feat.

In the 2000s, she resided in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, next door to The Wharf, the house where her great-grandfather H.H. Asquith resided and where he signed the official declaration of World War I when he was Prime Minister.

As of 2014, she has appeared in 19 movies that have all received at least one Academy Award nomination.

Was two months pregnant with her daughter Nell when she completed filming on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

Carter is descended from a very distinguished family. She is the great-granddaughter of H.H. Asquith, British Prime Minister (1908-1916) and her great-grandmother is Violet Bonham Carter, a British activist who was, at one time, engaged to one of her father's protégées, Winston Churchill. When Churchill decided to marry his ultimate wife Clemintine, Violet was involved in a fall off a cliff, the circumstances of which have been questioned for a century. However, she did survive and went on to a distinguished political career, including advisor to Churchill. Carter is also the grand-niece of distinguished British director Anthony Asquith.

In 1992, she was starring in "Trelawny of the Wells" on stage, when the Independent theatre critic Paul Taylor said that he would have been able to have appreciated her performance more from a restricted-viewing seat. Bonham Carter calmly wrote him a letter suggesting that the next time he came to see her he ought to let her know, so she might ensure that was the case.

She based her performance of Marla Singer in Fight Club (1999) on Judy Garland in the later stages of her life. To help her get into the mindset, director David Fincher would often call her Judy on-set.

Gave birth to her second child at age 41, a daughter Nell Burton on December 15, 2007. Child's father is her now ex-boyfriend, Tim Burton.

Gave birth to her first child at age 37, a son Billy Raymond Burton on October 4, 2003. Child's father is her now ex-boyfriend, Tim Burton.

Describes her character in the Harry Potter films, Bellatrix Lestrange, as a sadist and a racist, obsessed with blood purity.

Underwent extensive vocal lessons and studied baking in preparation for her role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007).

In 2005, her voice appeared in two stop-motion animated films. They were Corpse Bride (2005) and The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). Both films were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The award went to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

Her grandmother, Violet Bonham Carter, was friends with Prime Minister Winston Churchill. In The King's Speech (2010), Helena acts opposite Churchill, as played by Timothy Spall.

Helena's father was of English ancestry. Helena's maternal grandfather, Eduardo Propper de Callejon, was a Spanish diplomat who helped thousands of Jews to escape Nazi-occupied France during World War II (his own father was a Czech Jew and his Spanish mother was Catholic; Eduardo's maternal grandmother, who was from New Orleans, had Irish and French ancestry). Helena's maternal grandmother, Hélène Fould-Springer, was from a Jewish family (her Jewish ancestors were from many countries and territories, including Austria, Belgium, Bohemia, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine).

A distant cousin of Catherine Princess of Wales.

She has played the mothers of both England's Queen Elizabeths. She played Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII (2003) and then Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother, in The King's Speech (2010). Natalie Dormer also played both these roles in different productions.

In May 2006, she launched her own fashion line, "The Pantaloonies", with swimwear designer Samantha Sage. Their first collection, called Bloomin' Bloomers, is a Victoriana style selection of camisoles, mop caps and bloomers. The duo are now working on Pantaloonies customized jeans which Helena describes as "a kind of scrapbook on the bum".

Was cast as Bellatrix Lestrange after Helen McCrory became pregnant, and would have been nearly full-term when her scenes were shot. She returned to the role for one scene in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), opposite McCrory as her sister Narcissa Malfoy. Ironically, Carter was able to be in this scene because it was scheduled to be filmed after she gave birth to her own child.

(1994 - September 1999) Resided with Sir Kenneth Branagh.

In 2009, The Times named her one of the Top 10 British Actresses of all-time.

Given indefinite leave from the set of Terminator Salvation (2009) in New Mexico after her relatives were on a South African safari holiday on Wednesday, 20 August, 2008, when the minibus they were travelling in spun out of control and flipped after a tyre burst. Helena's cousin, Fiona Bonham Carter, 51, escaped with a broken shoulder but Fiona's son Marcus Egerton-Warburton, 14; mother Brenda, 74; stepfather Francis Kirkwood, 75; and sister-in-law Kay Boardman, 54, all died.

Auditioned for the role of Sarah Williams in the musical fantasy Labyrinth (1986) before the role went to Jennifer Connelly.

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2012 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama.

Wears fake teeth in 11 of her films - The Revengers' Comedies (1998), Planet of the Apes (2001), Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Great Expectations (2012), Cinderella (2015) and the four Harry Potter films.

Both she and Olivia Colman have played Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in separate projects; Bonham Carter in The King's Speech (2010) and Colman in Hyde Park on Hudson (2012). Together they played the Queen Mother's daughters on The Crown (2016). The actresses have also both played the role of Madame Thénardier; Bonham Carter in Les Misérables (2012) and Colman in Les Misérables (2018).

She has played two Tudor queens who were decapitated for treason. Lady Jane Grey in Lady Jane (1986) and later Anne Boleyn in Henry VIII (2003).

Member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.

Was originally going to appear as a cyborg in Terminator Salvation (2009) which would match her former choices of eccentric characters. However, the script was leaked online and her character got rewritten and her screen time significantly cut down, and her character changed.

Has appeared with Johnny Depp in six films: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows (2012) and The Lone Ranger (2013).

She and her partner Tim Burton were amazed at the ability for football their son Billy displayed at a very young age as neither of them is particularly athletic.

Turned down the role of Bess McNeill in Breaking the Waves (1996) due to the sexual content. The role went to Emily Watson who was nominated for an Oscar for that role.

Returned to work eight months after giving birth to her son Billy Ray in order to begin filming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Also returned to work two months after giving birth to her daughter Nell in order to begin filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).

Close friends with Liberal Democrat leader and politician Nick Clegg since their days at Westminster School, London, England.

She is the granddaughter of Violet Bonham Carter, a Life Peeress in her own right, and the niece of Mark Bonham-Carter, who was created a Life Peer in his own right as well. Her half-Spanish mother Elena Propper de Callejon is niece of Baroness Liliane de Rothschild, née Fould Springer. As of May 2014, Carter has been cast to play her grandmother in Oliver Hirschbiegel's adaptation of Barbara Tuchman history of World War I, The Guns of August.

Is one of nine actresses who have received an Academy Award nomination for portraying a real-life queen. The others in chronological order are Norma Shearer for Marie Antoinette (1938), Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter (1968), Geneviève Bujold for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Dame Vanessa Redgrave for Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Dame Janet Suzman for Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Dame Helen Mirren for The Madness of King George (1994) and The Queen (2006), Dame Judi Dench for Mrs Brown (1997) and Shakespeare in Love (1998), and Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007).

Has starred with Anne Hathaway in four films: Alice in Wonderland (2010), Les Misérables (2012), Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) and Ocean's Eight (2018).

Replaced Tilda Swinton as the role of Skynet/Dr. Serena Kogan in Terminator Salvation (2009). She accepted the role as her then partner Tim Burton is a huge fan of The Terminator (1984).

She is a first cousin of Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter, and only a distant cousin of Crispin Bonham-Carter: Crispin's father, Peter Malcolm Bonham-Carter, is a third cousin of Helena Bonham Carter. The first ancestors that Crispin and Helena have in common, are John Bonham-Carter (1788-1838) and his wife Joanna Maria Smith (1791-1884).

Ranked #99 on the 2008 Telegraph's list "the 100 most powerful people in British culture".

Despite playing her younger sister on The Crown (2016), Bonham Carter is actually eight years older than Olivia Colman in real life.

Has appeared with Emma Thompson in three films: Howards End (1992), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).