132 Self-Revealing Quotes By Helena Bonham Carter

When it comes to acting, people talk about the suspension of disbelief that you ask of the audience. Before that starts, you have to, as an actor, suspend your own disbelief.

  

I've got Tourette's, practically. I'll tell anyone anything.

  

Maybe from now on puppets can do the parts

  

On corsets: I said, You have got to be kidding. I am an ape and yet I am still expected to squeeze myself into one of those damn things.

  

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.

  

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.

  

I'm a very good sleeper.

  

To understand how you live, to live. Do not think about it and live with it.

  

I love movies where people see the world from a different angle.

  

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.

  

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.

  

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.

  

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

  

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

  

I'm convinced that whatever state you're in during your pregnancy has a huge influence on the baby's personality - so I hope we haven't produced a little serial killer!

Personality

  

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

  

I actually pointed my wand and it blew up! The power! The power was just like Angry Birds, but big [as] life.

  

I drink a lot of Diet Coke and belch. I've been known to use the ''f'' word.

  

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

  

I think Woody Allen is pretty much of a genius. I'm thinking of filmmakers every century or two, but I've never had the luck to meet them. People who create their absolutely own world and are totally inimitable.

  

Am I a good example? Well, at least I'm not too thin. I eat.

  

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

  

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

  

Everyone seems to think I'm very ladylike. That I'm very cultured and intelligent. I drink alot of Diet Coke and belch. I've been known to use the F-word. I've told a few dirty jokes. I arm-wrestle.

  

I do think imperfection's underrated.

  

I’ve aged, but I don’t think I’ve grown up.

  

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.

  

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

  

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

Character

  

Wear what you feel comfortable with. People say nasty things about what I wear in the street. I'm always in worst dressed lists, but you just have to dress for yourself and ­nobody else.

  

I always feel better after a good scream.

  

His mouth is a no-go area. It's like kissing the Berlin Wall.

  

Be yourself. No one else can.

  

I just want to give you this one piece of advice: if you're standing and you could be sitting, sit. If you're sitting and you could be lying down, lie down.

  

Imperfection is underrated. Perfection is overrated.

  

You just have to do what suits you, and it doesn't matter if you don't look like everybody else. Be you. That's our gift and we've got to celebrate that.

  

Who wants to be normal when you can be unique?

  

Why do you put your self esteem in the hands of complete strangers?

  

I don't think any actor wants their children to follow them into the profession.

Think

  

For me, acting is about getting away from myself. So to look at myself is the last thing I want.

Me

  

I would pretend to be the French lieutenant's woman. I was always a romantic. I still am, actually.

  

I look completely like my mum. She's very foreign, very Jewish.

Like

  

My life had been very work-orientated, and all in close-up. Once I had the family, it went into sudden widescreen.

Family , Life

  

The parenting bit is much harder than the acting bit. You just never know what to do.

Never

  

As everyone, you do end up becoming your mother, but also as you're acting, I find out you become every member of your family, bits come out without you really wanting them to come out.

Family

  

I'm a late developer. I only moved out of home when I was 30.

  

I've got Tourette's, practically. I'll tell anyone anything.

  

I never really wanted to grow up. I grew up really young. I moved out when I was 13 - that's when I started acting.

Never

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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.

Think , Time

  

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

Time

  

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

  

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

  

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.

  

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

  

There is no normality in life.

Life

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

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

  

I'm a very good sleeper.

  

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.

  

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.

Think

  

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.

  

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.

Never

  

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

  

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

Think

  

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.

Life

  

No, I can never rely on Tim to make me pretty.

Me , Never

  

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

  

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

Me

  

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

  

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

Me

  

It would be nice to really shed the corsets.

  

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

  

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.

Me

  

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.

Me

  

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

Life

  

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.

Character

  

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

Like

  

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.

  

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

  

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.

  

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

Think

  

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

  

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

Me

  

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

  

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

  

I think smells, like sounds, can be so much immediately affecting.

Like , Think

  

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.

  

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

Me , Think

  

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

Me

  

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

  

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.

  

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.

Yourself

  

I personally never got the gist of Facebook and Twitter.

Never

  

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

Life

  

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!