Tim Burton is notable for reusing many of the same actors in his projects, with his frequent collaborators Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter having co-starred in five of his movies. Depp and Burton’s collaborations began with the 1990 movie Edward Scissorhands, which remains one of the director’s most highly-acclaimed projects. Bonham Carter, with whom Burton shares two children, first joined Burton’s troupe in 2001’s Planet of the Apes, which was the same time that she and Burton began their 13-year-long relationship. Both actors have appeared in several of Tim Burton’s most popular films to date, with their collaborations generally yielding box office hits.

Separately, Johnny Depp has appeared in eight of Tim Burton’s 20 directed features, while Helena Bonham Carter has starred in seven of the director’s films. The five Tim Burton movies that Depp and Bonham Carter starred in together were consecutive, with neither having collaborated with the director since their roles in the critically-panned 2012 film Dark Shadows. While the actors aren’t currently slated for roles in Tim Burton’s hit Netflix series Wednesday, it’s still possible for the duo to reunite on one of the filmmaker’s future projects. Here’s a breakdown of the five Tim Burton movies that star both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.
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5 Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

The first Tim Burton movie to feature Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter together was his 2005 adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Depp starred in the main role as eccentric candy factory owner Willy Wonka, while Bonham Carter portrayed Mrs. Bucket, the mother of the title character. Although Depp and Bonham Carter’s Tim Burton characters typically share plenty of screen time, the actors were only featured in a few scenes together at the very end of 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

According to the 2006 edition of the book Burton on Burton, Johnny Depp was the only actor that Tim Burton considered for Willy Wonka, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory being the first occasion in which Burton didn’t receive studio pushback for casting Depp in the starring role. While Burton doesn’t give a specific reason for casting Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket, the actress had appeared in each of his movies from 2001 until mid-2012, so her involvement seemed like a given. Mrs. Bucket was a softer, gentler character than the figures Bonham Carter typically played in Tim Burton movies, so her Charlie and the Chocolate Factory role was an exciting exhibition of her gothic acting range.

4 Corpse Bride

One of the most beloved collaborations between Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Tim Burton is the 2005 stop-motion animated film Corpse Bride. While only their voices appear together, Depp and Bonham Carter play the two lead roles of the living Victor Van Dort and the deceased Emily the Corpse Bride, respectively. The pair is the focus of the story, as Depp’s timid character unintentionally finds himself betrothed to the naive and lively Emily, which takes them on an eccentric journey through the Land of the Dead. While Depp doesn’t sing in Corpse Bride, the movie features the singing talents of Bonham Carter in the movie’s memorable balled “Tears to Shed.”
The production for Corpse Bride was occurring simultaneously with Charlie and the Charlie Factory, so Burton noted that Johnny Depp was transforming into “Willy Wonka by day and Victor by night” (via PopEntertainment.com). Corpse Bride happened to be Johnny Depp’s first animated film, so the pair likely decided that moving into this new format would be more comfortable together. The film was also Helena Bonham Carter’s first time voice-acting for a major animated movie, with the actress also lending her voice to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit the same year.
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3 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Tim Burton’s 2007 adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Broadway musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street remains one of his most critically acclaimed features. The movie musical stars Johnny Depp in the title role, a Victorian barber who murders his customers with the help of his accomplice Mrs. Lovett, played by Helena Bonham Carter, who bakes their victims into meat pies. Sweeney Todd went on to be nominated for three Academy Awards at the 2008 Oscars, including Best Actor for Johnny Depp, while taking home the award for Best Art Direction.
While both Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter starred in the animated musical Corpse Bride, Depp didn’t have to sing in the stop-motion picture. Despite the fact that his musical talents had to come into full play for Sweeney Todd, Depp didn’t take any formal singing lessons for the 2007 movie. According to the DVD extra Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd, Depp was also cast as the serial killing barber before anyone had heard him sing, but he eventually submitted a sample of his singing that satisfied Burton and Sweeney Todd’s producers. Bonham Carter had a short singing stint in Corpse Bride, but still took singing lessons for three months for the complex numbers in Sweeney Todd.

2 Alice In Wonderland

In yet another adaptation, Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp returned for their fourth collaboration with Tim Burton in 2010’s live-action Alice in Wonderland movie. Despite an underwhelming critical reception, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland remains one of the highest-grossing films of all time, having earned over $1.025 billion at the box office – the highest for a Burton film. Bonham Carter plays the menacing role of Iracebeth of Crims, the Red Queen, while Depp memorably portrays the eccentric Tarrant Hightopp, the Mad Hatter. The duo also reprise their roles in the 2016 sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, but this film wasn’t directed by Tim Burton.

1 Dark Shadows

The final collaboration between Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in a Tim Burton-directed movie was 2012’s adaptation of Dark Shadows. The movie went on to earn $245.5 million at the worldwide box office, but only holds a 35% positive critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is Burton’s lowest rating on the review-aggregator site. In the gothic vampire movie, Johnny Depp plays Barnabas Collins, a vampire from the 18th century who awakens in 1972. Helena Bonham Carter’s Dark Shadows character is Dr. Julia Hoffman, the live-in psychiatrist for Barnabas’ descendants.
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When Warner Bros. acquired the film rights to Dark Shadows, which is based on the 1960s dark comedy soap opera of the same name, Johnny Depp sought to help develop the film and star as the lead vampire. Depp then brought on Tim Burton to direct a potential Dark Shadows movie, which was finally fulfilled approximately five years later (via Collider). While it’s been over a decade since Dark Shadows was released, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter have yet to collaborate on another project with the director. However, Wednesday director Tim Burton has noted his desire to work with the Barnabas Collins actor again if the right part appears.
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