Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth
Director Kenneth Branagh brings an incredibly energetic, frenetic style to Shelley's classic novel, which is followed more faithfully than by most adaptors. Branagh's camera is constantly moving through the imagery of a gothic nightmare, as dizzy and crazy as many of the characters. Branagh doubles as Victor Von Frankenstein and is a dynamic monster maker, obsessed in a way that no mad scientist before him has been obsessed. As the monster, Robert De Niro stretches his acting legs to provide a new slant on the creature: articulate, burning with a passion for his "bride" and cobnizant of the ironies in which he is trapped.
Biography for Helena Bonham Carter
Date of birth
26 May 1966
Golders Green, London, England, UK
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Trivia
(1994-September 1999) Lived with Kenneth Branagh
Great-great granddaughter of H.H. Asquith, British Prime Minister (1908-1916)
Her father was severely paralyzed by botched brain surgery in the 80's.
Speaks French fluently.
She was rejected 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, ironically, decided to concentrate fully on acting.
Helena Bonham Carter and director Tim Burton have been dating since October 2001.
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Personal quotes
"I hate this image of me as a prim Edwardian. I want to shock everyone."
Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia: You'd never suspect this tiny, pale, frail-looking British actress of the strength and passion she has exhibited in high-profile period pieces such as the 19th-century A Room With a View (1985), the Tudor Lady Jane (1986), and Franco Zeffirelli's Hamlet (1990, as Ophelia). One of Bonham Cart- er's few modern roles was that of a flamboyant, high-energy woman pursuing a 32-year-old virgin in 1989's Getting It Right Her latest costume parts were in E. M. Forster adaptations: Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991) and the near-perfect Howards End (1992). She played the title role in the 1993 telefilm Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald then returned to period clothes for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994).
Heart of Me, The (2002)
Football (2001) .... Mum
Till Human Voices Wake Us (2001)
Novocaine (2001) .... Susan Ivey
Planet of the Apes (2001) .... Ari
Carnivale (1999) .... Milly
... aka Carnivale (1999) (France)
Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything, The (1999) (TV) .... Herself
Women Talking Dirty (1999) .... Cora
Fight Club (1999) .... Marla Singer
Theory of Flight, The (1998) .... Jane Hatchard
Revengers' Comedies, The (1998) .... Karen Knightly
... aka Amour, vengeance et trahison (1999) (France)
... aka Sweet Revenge (2000) (USA: cable TV title)
Merlin (1998/II) (TV) .... Morgan Le Fey
Petticoat Expeditions, The (1997) .... Narrator
Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) .... Rosemary
... aka Comstock and Rosemary (1997)
... aka Merry War, A (1998) (New Zealand: English title) (USA)
Wings of the Dove, The (1997) .... Kate Croy
"Great War, The" (1996/I) (mini) TV Series (voice) .... Vera Brittain
... aka "Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, The" (1996) (mini)
Portraits chinois (1996) .... Ada
... aka Shadow Play (1996)
Twelfth Night: Or What You Will (1996) .... Olivia
... aka Twelfth Night (1996)
Margaret's Museum (1995) .... Margaret MacNeil
Mighty Aphrodite (1995) .... Armanda Weinrib
Butter (1994) (TV)
Dark Adapted Eye, A (1994) (TV) .... Faith (adult)
Frankenstein (1994) .... Elizabeth
... aka Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)
Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald (1993) (TV) .... Marina Oswald
... aka Marina's Story (1993) (TV)
Dancing Queen (1993) (TV) .... Pandora/Julie
... aka Rik Mayall Presents Dancing Queen (1993) (TV)
Howards End (1992) .... Helen Schlegel
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991) .... Caroline Abbott
Hamlet (1990) .... Ophelia
Francesco (1989) .... Chiara
... aka Franziskus (1989) (West Germany)
... aka St. Francis of Assisi (1989)
Getting It Right (1989) .... Lady Minerva Munday
Maschera, La (1988) .... Iris
... aka Mask, The (1988)
Maurice (1987) (uncredited) .... Lady at Cricket Match
Vision, The (1987) .... Jo Marriner
Hazard of Hearts, A (1987) (TV) .... Serena Staverley
Room with a View, A (1986) (as Helena Bonham-Carter) .... Lucy Honeychurch
Lady Jane (1986) .... Lady Jane Grey
Pattern of Roses, A (1983) (TV) .... Netty