Helena Bonham Carter ‘Really Didn’t Enjoy’ 1 ‘Harry Potter’ Scene
Throughout the course of her career, Helena Bonham Carter has played her fair share of memorable characters. However, her portrayal of the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange is among her most well-known. The actor brought the sadistic witch to life with flawless execution. For the most part, she really enjoyed playing someone who was so deliciously evil. However, there was one Harry Potter scene that was apparently truly discomforting for Carter.
Helena Bonham Carter enjoyed playing a villain in the ‘Harry Potter’ movies
Carter has shared that she enjoyed playing Bellatrix because the dark witch was uncontrollable. Though she was relentlessly loyal to Lord Voldemort, her status and power gave her a tremendous amount of freedom. Playing a villain seemed to be something that the actor truly relished. But the exception to this rule seemed to come in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, when her character was tasked with torturing Emma Watson’s character.
Why Bellatrix tortures Hermione at Malfoy Manor in the seventh film
Fans will recall that in the penultimate Harry Potter movie, Harry, Ron, and Hermione are captured by snatchers. Rather than being taken to the ministry, they are brought to Malfoy Manor. When the Malfoys search them, they find the sword of Gryffindor, which is supposed to be in Bellatrix’s vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Determined to figure out how Hermione got her hands on the sword, Carter’s Bellatrix tortures Watson’s Hermione with a knife.
In an interview with a magazine spread, Watson revealed that the torture scene was hard for both her and Carter to shoot. In fact, the Noah actor shared that the Alice in Wonderland actor didn’t enjoy pretending to torture her at all. Apparently, filming the scene actually brought up some intense emotions for both performers.
Carter didn’t enjoy having to fake torture Emma Watson in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1’
“It was very weirdly affecting to do that scene,” Watson shared in an interview about the torture scene she shared with Carter in the seventh Harry Potter movie. “It was quite horrible. I think even Helena said to me afterwards, she was like, ‘I really didn’t enjoy doing that. I really didn’t.’ She usually gets very into that kind of evil stuff, but I think she felt quite uncomfortable.”
While the scene was uncomfortable to film, it was actually something that both Carter and Watson had a hand in creating. While they could’ve gone with Bellatrix torturing Hermione by using the Cruciatus Curse, they opted to have Bellatrix carve the slur “mudblood” into Hermione’s arm using a knife. In the aforementioned interview, Watson explained why they chose to go that route.
Carter and Watson came up with a unique idea for the torture scene
“But actually, the mudblood idea wasn’t something that was written in the script,” Watson revealed. “It’s something that Helena and I came up with. Well, if she’s kind of like just doing a spell on me… I mean, obviously, I can make it look like it’s painful, but I think it would be really powerful to have something that the audience can physically see. So the ‘mudblood,’ we came up with mudblood.”
Clearly, Carter and Watson invested a lot of time and energy into the Bellatrix-Hermione torture scene. And while the scene wasn’t enjoyable to film, we’re sure that most Harry Potter fans will agree that it was visually impactful.
