August 5, 2001

From the Sunday Mirror:

INTERVIEW: HELENA BONHAM CARTER

by Mary Black

It's an odd sight, to say the least. Tiny Helena Bonham Carter who, despite her best efforts is still fixed in our minds wearing a bonnet (and corset) in a Merchant Ivory production, is squatting on a chair and bobbing up and down, whooping and screeching like a chimp.

She is demonstrating what she learned during her six weeks at Ape School for her upcoming role as a chimp called Ari in the new Planet Of The Apes film. The disturbing bit is that she's wearing a fairly slinky (for her) black dress and clunky mules.

"OK, lesson one was How To Walk. We were taught the basis of ape anatomy and they have much shorter legs. So it's a perpetual squat. Hard to maintain for six months, but great for your thigh muscles. Actually, it's hideous as none of my clothes fitted me when I got back."

To prove the point, Helena gamely hoicks her dress up with a grin and shows a pair of astoundingly muscly, toned thighs. "See, major bulge!"

This confident and funny woman seems miles away from the downcast, depressed person she became two years ago after the break up of her five-year relationship with actor and director Kenneth Branagh.

Then, Helena, 35, who has a converted artists' studio near her parents' home in Hampstead, London, seemed lost and was rumoured to have received counselling. Yet in recent months her name has been linked to American comedian Steve Martin (about which, as usual, she refuses to speak).

But she seems literally full of bounce as she suddenly jumps off the chair to sit on it again - kicking off her shoes, reverting to a human again and lighting a cigarette as we resume our chat...

Interviewer: Oh, smoking is soo bad for you. Couldn't you have given up during filming? You could have set your whiskers on fire.

HBC: I know, it was the perfect opportunity to give up my addiction. Because of all the make-up and fur, I was a fire hazard. But unfortunately I didn't stop - I used a cigarette holder instead. A lot of the reason was the monotony - the whole job was a celebration of monotony. There was a hell of a lot of waiting around, so I did puff away. But I didn't go crazy as I knew I could puff myself away.

Interviewer: What was it like in make-up?

HBC: There were days when I thought the make-up was ridiculous and intolerable, and I wanted to kill my make-up artist. During the tests I felt claustrophobic and I said, I'm not sure I can do this. It's like you're being buried alive and your natural instincts are to tear it off. I got used to it in the end, but it's not just the wearing it. It's also having people touch you all the time. You have four hands on you at all times, and that invasiveness can get to one. It's very strange. People start treating you differently. I had a really complicated relationship with the make-up artists. I mean, I loved them - I couldn't afford not to as I spent 240 hours in the make-up chair.

Interviewer: Talking of getting on with people, what was it like working with hunky Mark Wahlberg (who plays the stranded astronaut in a strange new world).

HBC: Mark is Mr Charisma. He'd keep the atmosphere light and fun. He's like Brad Pitt in that way, well adjusted and solid.

Interviewer: Did you flirt with him?

HBC: (Laughs) He's an incorrigible flirt and I was grateful. He's this flirt machine and I was desperate to be flirted with, particularly because I was in this chimpy outfit and covered in facial hair, and with a breast-flattening leotard and ape feet. I didn't feel the most sexual I've ever been, so I feel really grateful to him as he kept me feeling attractive against all odds. Ari is in love with him and that was my note to myself: "Have crush on Mark".

Interviewer: How come there isn't a love scene between Mark's human and your monkey character?

HBC: For certificate reasons, I guess. And it's not really about bestiality.

Interviewer: Was there one in the original script?

HBC: No, there was never an affair. I'm sure that rumour was started by Mark himself. Somehow before we even began shooting it was on the internet that we were having this mad, passionate affair.

Interviewer: You mean your characters?

HBC: Yeah, our characters. Me in a chimp suit - that's how he likes it (giggles).

Interviewer: Would you have done a big sex scene?

HBC: I would have been up for it, of course. And I know Mark was up for it. It would have been a lot of fun (here she makes some hysterical horny monkey noises). Unfortunately, it's all just left up to your imagination, which is always more interesting.

Interviewer: Did you have running gags during filming? Like did you all sing Bear Necessities or something?

HBC: Oh yeah, all the jokes were done to death, like "monkeying around" and so on. Oh, I'm just so over all that. And then there was funny stuff like getting my phone stuck on my whiskers. I'd say: "I'm stuck on the phone," and people would go, "OK," and I'd go, "No, I'm literally stuck on the phone!" And then they'd get it. "Helena's stuck to the phone again. Can we cut her off?"

Interviewer: Were you tempted to go off to the nearest bar in your costumes?

HBC: Yeah, we had to cross from the Sony studio lot where we were filming to the base camp, which was on the other side of a main road, and we all had to hop on a bus. The temptation was to jump out and start panting and hooting at motorists. I thought that'd be fun, but we weren't allowed to.

Interviewer: So what about the Helena under the monkey suit? Do you want children ever? Or do you think your passed that age?

HBC: No, I haven't got to that point yet. I'm just at the point where I'm thinking about it, thinking: "Christ, I'm 35 now, I'd better get a move on." But I'm so nowhere near it. For one, I'm going to have to find someone to do it with. That would help. I'm just such a retard and a bit of a Peter Pan. I've been very reluctant to grow up. But I think I might be quite a good mum. (Pauses) I might be, I don't know. But I do think I would want a baby, actually, I do want to. But I don't think it's a DIY job. You need a lot of help.

Interviewer: What's the worst thing a guy has ever said to you?

HBC: (Long pause) It's probably what they haven't said.

Interviewer: You look great today, but your personal style is really laid-back. Do you ever wear things like smart little suits, or are you allergic to tailored clothes?

HBC: I know, I'm always a slob aren't I? Sometimes I dress up, but I don't really go for the tailored look. Other actresses are very well groomed. I've never been that. If I try it, I always get it wrong at the last minute, because I just don't feel comfortable in that skin. I don't know why that is. Even with my ape outfit, I was constantly trying to make it un-neat. Everything has to be asymmetrical for me - all the aesthetics, every line, everything's all wonky. Even my pyjamas and jackets are all wonky.

Interviewer: What's your fashion philosophy?

HBC: I don't really have one (laughs). I just wear what's comfy. I don't mean literally, physically. Often it is and I'll always tend to choose physical comfort over aesthetics."

Somehow, however, Helena looks, after Planet Of The Apes we'll never imagine her in a corset again.