Helena Bonham Carter On Acting - "Don't Spend Too Much Time On Yesterday"

I started possibly because due to a great friend of mine at school he was on Grange Hill which is a Tele program and I was so jealous that she was on telly that I overheard her talking to her agent on the school phone and I heard her name and then I looked it up in the other pages were the eight you know direct phone directory and then phoned her up and said I want to be an actress too I was 13 so then I got the agent and then I started going to auditions and that's how I started but it was through I think I just wanted to pretend to be somebody else but a lot of it was MV I just wanted to be Carrie for some reason I'm I used to say that if we all want to be plumbers maybe that's what you know it was a lot of my peer group we were want you to act then but it eventually I realized in fact it not anybody in any profession you always think you're an imposter but now I know that I've worked out why I act in a lot of it is just because I want to be something else I was very lucky because I had immediate breaks well I had my first professional break when i was literally out of school 18 i got Lady Jane and then I got a run of the View and I was a year later the movie was a hit now you can't have a manufacturer of a hit for either have only won't at that point I wanted to go to university and get a proper education for myself as my father who is much more practical recently you've got a hit that will never have the witnesses Oh any not will ever might not ever happen you know you have to capitalize on that so carry on Ian go to university feel strongly about that later all your life because you know will and so though I just carried on and I just carried on working I didn't go to drama school after I went off and looked to drama schools I was always inadequate I always felt a great sense of inferiority and I feel that either go to university and get brainy or I had to go to drama school know how to act but in the end I just learnt we're doing it and I'll say there's a lot to be said for learning too I meet a lot of young people these days all the karate at uni or or even do any know what to do at 18 I get like start working now I think work experience is paramount and just doing it you learn a huge amount just by doing it I think you have to be obviously compassionate it's all about empathy and feeling other people's feelings others acting have an imagination because all you're doing is being a big child and pretending and dressing out and then you have to get on with people you have to certainly how to know how to listen because that's listening in a scene if you opposite a good person that's all you have to do is listen properly not take yourself too seriously have a huge sense of humor I think practically it's it's hard because I think often actors who then get famous you have that weird mix you have to be very vulnerable when it comes to acting and be very emotional but at the same time when you're well-known you have to be very have a strong armor and make sure that you don't believe too much of about what other people think of you say about you that have a weird mix and then also ultimate you're self-employed you're going to have to work out if you're the kind of character who will suit that kind of free life and have the discipline to deal with it because what it's not when you're working that's hard is when you're not working and you gotta have to have a lot of stuff discipline then I'll take myself too seriously allow yourself to make mistakes you can be bad yeah you can act badly it's not gonna kill anyone don't you know punish yourself don't spend too much on yesterday that was a good price you know they're wasting much of today on yesterday a lot of the time I spent so much time - I was crapping that was crapping and then I make myself worse doesn't matter the end of the day is just pretending possibly badly my actor you know and a lot of the times you're so you depend on other people's talent or lack of talent you know it's at filmmaking is definitely a it's a group thing it's fascinating and it's fun and it's a privilege

Channel: BAFTA Guru

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Keywords: BAFTA, BAFTA Guru, Helena Bonham Carter (TV Actor), Harry Potter Film Series (Film Series), The King's Speech (Film), Lady Jane (Film), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Film), Big Questions, Advice, Interview, helena bonham carter, helena bonham carter interview, helena bonham carter bafta, helena bonham carter acting, bafta big questions, acting, acting tips, helena bonham carter 2013, career, craft, advice, acting advice, film, tv, suffragette, carey mulligan

Id: 6SHP5C3yyM0

Length: 4min 19sec (259 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 02 2013