Helena Bonham Carter Poses Naked With A Fish

Helena Bonham Carter says she was more scared of the fish than of stripping off when she agreed to pose naked with a large tuna. The star of The King’s Speech, A Room with a View, and Harry Potter revealed that she is fish-phobic — but still agreed to be the latest volunteer to bare all to highlight the threat to ocean life from overfishing.

Speaking about the project, Bonham Carter said that we all have a duty to ensure that we don’t overfish, and we must make sure that fish species have a chance to replenish their population, which is why she decided to take part in the shoot.

“There is a new movement, spearheaded by the Blue Marine Foundation and others, encouraging the Government to invest in creating marine reserves — fish refuges really — where they are safe from the ravages of industrial-scale fishing and where they can regenerate. “We all have a responsibility to try and return our world to the next generation in the state we inherited it in, not worse. It would be a sad thing if in our dotage we’d be describing a tuna fish to our grandchildren like we do a dodo today.”

Bonham Carter, 48, was asked to get involved by her friend, Greta Scacchi, who was photographed with a cod in the first of a series of images by different photographers, entitled “Fishlove.” In the latest shoot, Bonham Carter worked with photographer John Swannell. However, Bonham Carter has said that she was very hesitant to take part in the shoot, due to the fact that she dislikes touching fish.

“I am a big supporter of protecting the marine environment. I’m actually very phobic about fish so when Greta asked me to be photographed naked with a 27kg tuna I was more worried about touching it than getting my kit off. Having said that, I conquered my fears and by the end of the morning we’d truly bonded. He will be my Valentine.”

The campaign, which also has support from The Fall’s Gillian Anderson, urges the UK government to create vast marine reserves around three overseas territories. Helena Bonham Carter is currently filming the TV movie Codes of Conduct and has just finished work on the Disney movie Cinderella, in which she plays the fairy godmother. Bonham Carter also made headlines recently when it was confirmed that she and long-time boyfriend Tim Burton had split up.

[Lead image via Gustavo Caballero / Getty Images]