Helena Bonham Carter says Tim Burton was sketching while she was "literally giving birth"
The 59-year-old star - whose 13-year relationship with the iconic filmmaker ended in 2014 - has recalled how her 67-year-old former partner is always doing his own drawings, no matter what's going on around him.
3 December 2025
Speaking in new documentary Tim Burton: Life in the Line, she said: "He literally draws his way through life.
"Even if he's with you, he would be sketching. Even through momentous occasions.
"I'd be having a child. He would still sketch. Literally giving birth. We've got our whole lives sketched.
"It was definitely an adventure shared. We went through 1000s of drawings before we decided to call it a day."
Helena and Tim have children Billy, 22, and Nell, 17, together, while he also cast her in several of his projects, including Sweeney Todd, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, Alice in Wonderland and many more.
She laughed: "He gave me some great characters, including the children.
"But he gave me the chance to create character where, 'til then, I probably hadn't been given the chance to."
They first formed a bond in 2001 after he brought her on board for Planet of the Apes, while they really "connected emotionally" two years later while working together on Big Fish.
Helena said he "drew [her] into existence", while she got to known the real man behind Tim's public persona.
She explained: "He's not really at rest, Tim. He dances in the air. So, as long as he can channel that energy into something, onto a line on the page, that's his anchor.
"But there is a real life in that line. That's where he's happiest. His symbols-the curl, stitch marks, spots, stripes-people relate to it.
"That's all he wants. And all he wants is to carry on drawing or creating or making a film or scribbling on a napkin. That's all he asks."
© 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity
