The Oscar nominee joked that Tim “brought me into existence,” and that was especially true when she was cast as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (2007) opposite Johnny Depp. The role required her to “audition backwards, sing upside down” and required the approval of the musical's original creator. Stephen Sondheim. And the moment she was given the green light to cast was an emotional one for both Helena and Tim.
“Tim started crying,” Helena said. “In fact, that’s pretty much the only time he’s ever done it.”
“He walked to my side of the house. As you know, we had two houses next door to each other, but in fact it was one house,” Helena said. “He said, 'Stephen Sondheim needs you.' And then he started crying because we really put ourselves and our relationship and everything else under a lot of pressure because I went through with it. But it was worth every moment.”
The duo collaborated on the screen a few more once, with films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factor (2005), Corpse Bride (2005), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Dark Shadows (2012) and Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016).
Through all this, Helena remembered that Tim was always drawing something.
“He’s literally working his way through life,” she said. “Even if he's with you, he'll draw. Even at important moments. I'm having a baby. He'll still draw. Literally give birth. We have our whole lives sketched out.”
