Helena Bonham Carter owes a significant debt of gratitude to Brad Pitt for her role in Fight Club. If not for Pitt introducing David Fincher to her performances, she might not have caught the director’s attention at all. Pitt’s influence played a pivotal role in bringing Bonham Carter into the spotlight with the iconic film.
In Fincher’s cult classic, Helena Bonham Carter beautifully portrayed the love interest of Ed Norton’s character, Marla Singer. Surprisingly, she wasn’t the director’s initial selection. Numerous names were tossed Fincher’s way, including Courtney Love and Reese Witherspoon before Carter eventually secured the memorable role.
Brad Pitt Pushed Helena Bonham Carter’s Name For A Specific Reason
However, during that period, Courtney Love was romantically involved with Edward Norton, who was Brad Pitt’s co-star in the film. This situation led David Fincher to believe that casting Love in the movie could potentially create complications and challenges.
Additionally, Fincher felt that Love might have been too obvious a choice for the role of Marla, and he wanted to explore other possibilities for the character. Fincher ultimately decided against considering Reese Witherspoon as an option for the role of Marla, mainly due to concerns about her age not aligning with the vision.
“She’s somebody else who the studio brought up,” Fincher once told Total Film. “I think she’s amazingly talented, I just thought she was too young. When you realize Tyler doesn’t exist and The Narrator’s been abusing Marla himself, it needed to be somebody who, for lack of a better explanation, was there out of choice; not somebody who didn’t know any better.”
During a visit to Brad Pitt’s house, the topic of casting for the role came up. Brad urged David Fincher to watch a specific scene from the movie The Wings Of The Dove, featuring Helena Bonham Carter in an emotionally charged s*x scene where she portrays immense sadness. Fincher was deeply moved by her performance and found her emotionally exquisite.
Helena Bonham Carter Didn’t Understand The Script
In the pursuit of the role, Helena Bonham Carter had a personal meeting with David Fincher. While she showed interest, she harbored some reservations. Fincher speculated that Bonham Carter’s uncertainty might have been influenced by her mother, adding an intriguing layer to her decision-making process regarding Fight Club.
“I think her mother had read the script and just thought it was awful and I think that’s partly why she was ambivalent about it. Actually, ambivalent may be giving the material the benefit of the doubt. She may have been repulsed by it,” Fincher remembered.
Bonham Carter revealed that her mother disapproved of the script and considered it a “pollutant,” leading her to have doubts about the project initially. She, too, found the script perplexing and questioned its life-enhancing message. However, after conversing with Fincher, her perspective on the script underwent a transformation, prompting her to reevaluate her decision.
Fight Club can be rented or purchased on Google Play.
Source: Cheatsheet
