Helena Bonham Carter is as unconventional as the many roles she has portrayed. From playing the infamous Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland to one of the most hated characters in Harry Potter, Bellatrix Lestrange, Carter has demonstrated her versatility across different genres.
The exceptionally dedicated actress is known to bring her characters to life with exceptional perfection. So ‘severe’ is her dedication to her craft that once the actress developed a nightmare medical condition while working in the acclaimed Fight Club opposite Brad Pitt.
Helena Bonham Had A Hellish Time Shooting Fight Club
Helena Bonham Carter portrayed the role of the complex lead character of Marla Singer in Fight Club. Playing a troubled, cynical, and rebellious woman, she received widespread acclaim for her realistic portrayal and for bringing the inner conflicts of her character on screen.
One characteristic of whether character is that Singer smokes a lot in the movie, probably to be rebellious and self-destructive. While the excessive smoking reflected the nihilistic trait of the character, helping make her more authentic, Carter had a hellish time as a result of it.
The actress was asked by director David Fincher to smoke as much as she could for him to get the perfect shot. Describing her afflictions, the actress stated (via Total Film),
“He got obsessed with the smoke. It had to float in a particular way. So I was just always sitting there in a cemetery of cigarette butts.”
The result of the six-month-long shoot, with the majority of time spent smoking, was that the Harry Potter star developed bronchitis.
“At the end of the shoot I gave Finch an x-ray of my lungs. I had to have an x-ray because I got bronchitis – surprise, surprise – during the six months of filming. And Fincher does so many takes and lots of smoke shots.”
Fortunately, the effect wasn’t as bad, but her commitment to her roles only reaffirms the fact that nobody could have done it as well as Helena Bonham Carter.
Helena Bonham Carter Wasn’t The Only One Having A Hard Time On Set
While Helena Bonham Carter was having a hellish time smoking, her co-stars Brad Pitt and Edward Norton were having a hellish time getting injured. Recalling the time on set, David Fincher stated (via Total Film),
“A lot of people got hurt. We had people with dislocated fingers and broken ribs. We didn’t want burly stunt guys, we wanted them to look like scrawny prep cooks and concierges and bellmen.”
Essentially portraying the same character with a personality disorder, things started turning eerie when Norton and Pitt started having almost the same injuries, as the Incredible Hulk star revealed,
“It was weird, like, I jammed my thumb really badly and then Brad jammed his thumb, and then he really took a bad shot to the ribs and he was hurt under his ribs and I remember thinking, ‘Ooh, I hope I don’t get that one!’ And then like a week later I fell on it right on my ribs. I remember walking out of the soundstage holding my ribs and Brad was like, ‘Noooo’.”
Well, the efforts of the entire cast and crew certainly paid off, for despite its bad box office performance, the movie is one of the most popular cult-classic films today.
Fight Club can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
