Helena Bonham Carter‘s career was tied closely to her relationship with Tim Burton, and when that ended she had little idea who she was any more.
The couple made six films together before they ended their marriage in 2014, and their split left her feeling like one of his characters.
“You go through massive grief — it is a death of a relationship, so it’s utterly bewildering. Your identity, everything, changes,” Carter told Harper’s Bazaar UK.
The actress explained that she wanted to place a “handle with care” tape across her forehead, along with a hedgehog brooch that her mother gave her, “just saying: ‘I’m not myself at the moment, so be careful.’
“Everyone always says you have to be strong and have a stiff upper lip, but it’s OK to be fragile.”
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Carter said she has taken some advice from her character in Alice Through the Looking Glass to get her through.
“You’ve got to take very small steps, and sometimes you won’t know where to go next because you’ve lost yourself.
“There’s a great quote I’ve stuck next to the kettle. It’s from Alice: ‘I can’t explain myself… because I’m not myself.'”
Luckily — especially since they have two children together — Carter and Burton have been able to find friendliness in their post-divorce relationship, and there’s even a chance they could work together on movies again.
“We really do get on, so that’s good. I understand him very well and he understands me,” she said. “It might be easier to work together without being together any more. He always only cast me with great embarrassment.”
Alice Through the Looking Glass hits theaters next month.
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