At a Glance
- Helena Bonham Carter calls her 2018 romance with psychoanalyst Rye Dag Holmboe “unexpected magic”
- She left a five-year relationship with Kenneth Branagh in 1999 and split with Tim Burton in 2014 after 13 years and two children
- Emma Thompson, once married to Branagh, has publicly forgiven both him and Carter
Why it matters: The actress’s candid reflections reveal how chance meetings reshaped her family life and career choices across three decades.
Helena Bonham Carter’s romantic journey spans three high-profile relationships that began on film sets and at a wedding, producing two children, public apologies, and what she now calls “some unexpected magic.”
Meeting Branagh on the Set of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Carter and Branagh met while starring in the 1994 film Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. At the time, Branagh was married to actress Emma Thompson. Their relationship began during production, leading to Thompson and Branagh’s 1995 divorce after six years of marriage.
Thompson later told The New Yorker in November 2022, “I was utterly, utterly blind to the fact that he had relationships with other women on set. What I learned was how easy it is to be blinded by your own desire to deceive yourself.”
Despite the circumstances, Thompson has since forgiven both parties. “It is … all blood under the bridge,” she told The Telegraph in November 2013. “She’s a wonderful woman, Helena.” The two actresses later shared the screen in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.
Branagh avoided directing Carter during their years together, telling The Guardian in October 2020 that “it can be complicated.” Their relationship ended in 1999. Carter issued a statement via Marcus L. Bennett: “I am very sad to confirm that Kenneth Branagh and I are no longer together. The decision was mutual and no one else was involved.”
A 13-Year Partnership with Tim Burton
In 2000, Carter met director Tim Burton on the set of Planet of the Apes. A spokesperson told the New York Daily News in October 2001 that their romance began after filming concluded: “She has been seeing him for the last two and a half weeks. It is a baby relationship. They’re taking baby steps.”
The couple collaborated on multiple films, including Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd (2007), and Alice in Wonderland (2010). Carter insisted she never received preferential treatment, telling The Guardian, “I never got a free ride with Tim because I was sleeping with him. I was always auditioning. And I gave him two kids and everything!”
Their first child, son Billy Raymond, arrived on October 4, 2003. Carter described the moment to The Guardian in 2006: “On the day Billy was born, it was like walking through a mirror and everything was Technicolor. My life had been very work-orientated, and all in close-up. Once I had the family it went into sudden widescreen.”
Daughter Nell followed on December 15, 2007, named in homage to “all the Helens in the family.” Carter told the Evening Standard in 2008, “I’m totally in love. I even loved the birth. I’d do it again in a flash.”
The pair quietly separated in 2014. A representative told News Of Losangeles exclusively in December 2014 that they had “separated amicably earlier this year and have continued to be friends and co-parent their children.” Carter later referred to the breakup as a “very painful divorce” on the Therapy Works podcast in December 2022, noting, “It’s not that finite. It never ends. Even if you divorce somebody, it’s a kind of marriage if you have children with them.”
Finding “Unexpected Magic” with Rye Dag Holmboe
At a 2018 wedding, Carter met psychoanalyst Rye Dag Holmboe. She told The Guardian in October 2020 that their encounter was “a totally random thing, which both of us nearly didn’t go to, so it was one of those moments that was so chance and ended up determining so much.”
By October 2019, she told Harper’s Bazaar UK, “I’m very happy with someone else. It’s been a bit of unexpected magic in my life.” The couple share a Tibetan terrier named Pablo.
Holmboe is over 20 years younger than Carter, yet she describes him as an “old soul in a young body.” Speaking to The Sunday Times in November 2022, she said, “There are people I’ve been involved with who aren’t necessarily their age, maturity wise, whereas he is ageless. His eyesight is going, so we say I’m siphoning off his youth at night.”
Key Takeaways
- Carter’s first major relationship post-Branagh lasted 13 years and produced two children
- Emma Thompson has publicly forgiven both Carter and Branagh for the 1990s affair
- Carter met Holmboe by chance at a wedding she almost skipped
- Despite age gaps and public scrutiny, Carter calls her current romance “unexpected magic”
