Helena Bonham Carter has collaborated with several actors and filmmakers in her exceptional career. However, one of her most frequent collaborations has been with her ex, Tim Burton. Having worked together in several films and features, one of their most iconic films is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Starring Burton’s best friend Johnny Depp as the male lead, the film remains one of the most celebrated musicals of the 21st century. However, before Carter signed up for the film, she was hesitant for she did not want fans to accuse her of bagging the film because of her romance with Burton.
Helena Bonham Carter was Worried About Starring in Sweeney Todd
Credit: Warner Bros.
Helena Bonham Carter did an impeccable job as Mrs. Lovett opposite Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. From singing duets to her chemistry with Depp, it is hard to imagine anyone else portraying the character and starring opposite Depp in the 2007 musical slasher film.
Directed by Tim Burton, who was also Helena Bonham Carter’s boyfriend at the time, the film was iconic not only because of Burton’s close friendship with Johnny Depp, who played the romantic lead opposite Carter’s character but also due to its unique casting dynamic.
While it certainly wasn’t the first of the last time the trio worked together, Carter did find the situation a bit odd. Yet, she remained more concerned that people might think she got the role because of her relationship with Burton.
In an interview with IGN, the Harry Potter actress remarked,
I mean he told me:‘You look right for it but we have no idea if you can sing.’ So I thought: ‘well, I’ll try and learn’ and did singing lessons, but you know I had to be righter than right. I wouldn’t want people saying I got a role in his film just because I slept with him. At the end of the day Sondheim said I was okay… and I definitely didn’t sleep with him!
Taking the role as a challenge, Carter trained hard and proved herself to be the right choice. Not only do her duets with Depp remain memorable today but her and Johnny Depp’s pairing is one of the highlights of the musical film.
Helena Bonham Carter and Tim Burton Often Clashed on the Sets of Sweeney Todd
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street wasn’t Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter’s first collaboration. Having worked together several times and with Johnny Depp as well, the two found themselves clashing and having a real argument for the very first time.
On the Grounded with Louis Theroux podcast, Carter revealed,
I’d never sung before, he had never done a musical and it’s that classic thing that you take your stress out on the person who you know best and we really didn’t get on during that one.
Well, fortunately for her, the actress found a loophole to avoid arguments by bringing in their good friend Johnny Depp in between.
Johnny was caught in the middle. In the end I realized I shouldn’t really have any good ideas. If I had a good idea I should give it to Johnny. If I gave it to Johnny, Johnny would mention it to Tim and then it was a marvelous idea. If I mentioned it it would be an absolutely crap idea. We worked our way through it.
Despite the tension in the film, it did not keep the trio from working together again. And now nearly all of their collaborations have turned out to be cult classics, with fans hoping they would work together again once again in the future.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street can be rented on Amazon Prime Video.
