Helena Bonham Carter? Says Time With Tim Burton Was ‘A Massive Gift’
Suffragette star Helena Bonham Carter has finally opened up about her separation from director Tim Burton and, for fans, knowing why this famous couple split up is almost as satisfying as the fantasy that Carter and Burton might reunite. In fact, as Helena speaks about her relationship with Tim and what drove her and Burton to part ways, one cannot feel that there might still be a smidgen of hope that Ms. Bonham Carter and Mr. Burton might, one day, mend the divide between them and come together once again.
Although there is so much going on between Burton and herself that Helena says she could pen a book solely on their break-up, the Suffragette actress feels that the both of them are really coming through the worst of it by now. Ms. Carter sounds hopeful about the future, when she says that she feels she still shares something very special with Tim Burton, but even Helena’s thoughts about the past seem more positive than negative, which is rare for a couple in the midst of a separation.
“Sometimes you’re not meant to be forever together. Sometimes you have to come to terms with the fact that that was it. But that was a gift, a massive gift,” Ms. Bonham Carter said, according to People magazine.
“We gave each other children and a lot more else. And we might be better, and still be able to give to each other, but not necessarily living together. Which we did by the way, because everyone seemed to think we didn’t, but that was a load of myth.”
Ms. Bonham Carter was out promoting her latest film, Suffragette, and the mere mention of the film’s topic reminds 49-year-old Helena of her own youth and the issue of women’s right to vote. Carter says the suffragette movement wasn’t mentioned in school and even Hollywood was careful not to promote the suffragette movement in films with the closest reference coming in Mary Poppins and used only as yet another way to make Mr. Banks feel like his family was being torn apart. Helena says it was far worse for woman than the way it was comically depicted in Mary Poppins.
“So you don’t think about hunger strikes and violence, nor the reasons behind it, the need for action,” Helena Bonham Carter told Red magazine in an exclusive interview. “Not only did women not have the vote, but we had no rights, at all. We – and our children – were the property of our husbands and this is just 100 years ago. So they are smashing windows, but they had to be heard.”
The mention of the time passing since the suffragette movement reminded Helena of the time that has passed and the younger years she spent with Tim Burton watching their children grow. The Suffragette actress reminisces about watching her children always growing and always leaving to go somewhere, knowing that each moment would never come again.
“There’s no pressing pause. You’ve just got to say goodbye all the time, but also say hello. You must remember to say hello.”
Ms. Bonham Carter considers this and realizes that she’ll be turning 50 before she even realizes it.
So I’m going to say hello to my 5-0 – because otherwise when I’m 60 I’ll be going, “Oh, you should’ve enjoyed your fifties.'”
There seems to be no stopping the philosophical thoughts, as they come in a string of memories and force one to come through the other end with a deeper appreciation for love and for life. Helena seems to be more keen to this understanding than most and the Suffragette actress closes her interview with inspiring words that reveal Carter’s wisdom and life experiences.
“Once you’re through the suffering bit, you can see life with a sense of proportion and you shed a lot of worry,” Ms. Bonham Carter says. “You grab fun quicker. If you’ve been through really hard times, there’s an easier ability for joy.”
Suffragette, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Carey Mulligan, and Meryl Streep, opens on October 23 in theaters.
[Featured image: Helena Bonham Carter courtesy of Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images]
