Look who it is... making Big Eyes at Tim Burton
No role for Helena – but new love gets walk-on part in latest movie
SHE has been the leading lady in many of his blockbusters, so eyebrows were raised at Helena Bonham Carter’s notable absence from Tim Burton’s latest movie.
But sharp-eyed cinemagoers will notice that the director did manage to find a part in Big Eyes for his latest squeeze, Berenice Percival.
As The Mail on Sunday revealed last month, Miss Percival is the woman who came between Burton and Miss Bonham Carter, 48.
Our picture, taken in 2013 during filming in Vancouver, shows her waiting to appear in a crowd scene. The film is set in the 1950s, and Miss Percival is wearing a period dress with her hair swept up into a French roll.
When Burton and Miss Bonham Carter announced their split after 13 years together just before Christmas, they insisted it was amicable. The couple – who never married and lived next door to each other – even put on a united front, going for a walk with their two children, Billy Ray, 11, and Nell, six.
But it is thought that Burton, 56, was already in a long-term relationship with Miss Percival, 39, who has worked as his assistant for the past three years. Their relationship is believed to have taken off in Vancouver. ‘They were there for days,’ a source said. ‘They stayed out late and drank tequila.’
A source close to Miss Bonham Carter said: ‘She thought Tim was having a midlife crisis and gave him room to get it out of his system. But it never happened so she reluctantly decided to end things.’
Big Eyes – based on the life of artist Margaret Keane – took just £135,582 in its first week at the box office.