Helena Bonham Carter: Her 5 Best & 5 Worst Roles (According To IMDB)
Rarely is it possible for an actor to be so across the board brilliant in every role she has ever played. Whether it is in a light-hearted, minor role that adds so much to a scene, or a demonic presence at the center of a serious, well-respected film, it seems almost impossible for her to put on a bad performance.
We’ve used IMDb to rank her five best performances (in which she plays a large role) and her five worst performances, based on the rating IMDb users have given her.
10 WORST: Dark Shadows (6.2)
This is about as classic Tim Burton as you can possibly get. Take a dark setting, preferably one with something supernatural involved, then layer it with quite funny jokes and alarmingly bland storyline before sprinkling Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter on top. Dark Shadows is that, word for word, and it doesn’t work.
The vampire film is a remake of a soap opera from the late 1960s, but it just doesn’t work.
9 BEST: Les Misérables (7.6)
Filmed during a period of incredibly huge, successful and iconic roles for Carter, Les Misérables, saw her not only put on a brilliant performance that stands out even amongst the likes of Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Sascha Baron Cohen but proved her singing voice to be pretty impressive too.
She shared various musical numbers with Baron Cohen after having done the same in the, much less well-received, big-screen adaptation of Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street a few years earlier
8 WORST: Ocean’s Eight (6.2)
Around the time that saw Ghostbusters remade with an all-female team, we were also provided with a new entry into the Ocean’s franchise: Ocean’s Eight. Bonham Carter is the shining light amongst a film that doesn’t hold a candle to its legacy. The cast isn’t terrible, but the whole situation feels forced.
This is an example of where filmmakers need to realize that the way to combat the gender divide is by casting brilliant female actors in strong roles in any film. They don’t need to create the concept of ‘all-female’ casts as if it is some sort of novelty that turns the very idea of using female actors into the main draw.
7 BEST: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (7.7)
The second to last Harry Potter film might be mostly made up of Harry and Hermione aimlessly wandering around a forest for two hours, but it does still have some standout moments. One of these moments comes right at the end when Bellatrix Lestrange returns to our screen.
She is easily the most despicable, pure evil character in the entire franchise, and she plays it so well. We want to see her ripped limb from limb when she kills Dobby, but you just can’t help but applaud the menace she can create with that wide, evil smile.
6 WORST: Novocaine (5.8)
Bonham Carter plays Susan Ivey in this black comedy, with Steve Martin taking on the lead role of Dr. Frank Sangster. The reason the film ended up becoming so well-known was pretty much nothing to do with its lackluster story, and everything to do with the relationship Bonham Carter and Martin began during filming.
Despite this abundance of free advertising, the film was a box office flop and reviews ended up pretty much calling the film as average as it could have possibly been.
5 BEST: The King’s Speech (8.0)
For her role in The King’s Speech, Bonham Carter was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and rightly so. She played Queen Elizabeth, the mother of the current Queen of England, while she was married to King George VI.
Managing to pull off a character who almost couldn’t be further removed from the likes of Bellatrix Lestrange proves her incredible range, while the story itself is heart-warming and has gone on to inspire many real-life events.
4 WORST: Planet Of The Apes (5.7)
Planet Of The Apes is a franchise created all the way back in 1963 with Pierre Boulle’s novel La Planete des singes. Tim Burton’s attempt at entry into the franchise was met with condemnation from critics pretty much across the board, despite returning to the premise of the original book and film.
Carter’s role as Ari turns her into a chimpanzee who fights for the rights of humans, and her performance is fine. It’s just the terrible dialogue and weak structure of the story that ended up giving this film such a low rating.
3 BEST: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
Despite abandoning the story in favor of a two-hour-long action sequence, the final Harry Potter film is often considered the franchise’s strong point. The most interesting part of her performance in this film comes right at the beginning.
She has to play Hermione Granger under the influence of Polyjuice potion, and she pulls off her mannerisms perfectly. Later on in the film, Molly Weasley pretty much blows her up. It’s satisfying, but it marks the end of a truly wonderful acting performance.
2 WORST: Carnivale (5.4)
The worst of Helena Bonham Carter’s film appearance comes from one of her many collaborations with her ex-husband Tim Burton. This 1999 animation is built around the dark themes he is known for and amassed an all-star cast that includes Bonham Carter and Huge Laurie.
However, it has ended up disappearing into the shadows, with its 70-minute runtime and bizarre time-travel based concept leading to universal dislike.
1 BEST: Fight Club
Of course, the role that tops our list is Fight Club. In 1999, Bonham Carter portrayed Marla Singer in the David Fincher adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s twist-heavy psychological thriller. She gets the balance between caring, confused and extremely unlucky spot on, with her role being praised across the board.
Interestingly, the film didn’t meet box office predictions at the time and didn’t quite achieve the same level of critical success it has enjoyed in recent years.