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Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Ali Condon
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships
Helena Bonham Carter is very aware of the 21-year age gap between her and her boyfriend, and she's happy to be the first to poke fun at it.
The Crown actress, 56, has been dating art historian Rye Dag Holmboe, 35, since 2018, and insists that she doesn't even notice the age difference.
Helena has lovingly described her boyfriend as an 'ageless' man, but she's well aware of the stigma that follows them.
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Helena was speaking to The Times when she was asked about her relationship with Rye.
Comparing him to men she's dated in the past, Helena said: "There are people I've been involved with who aren't necessarily their age, maturity wise, whereas [Rye] is ageless."
The Harry Potter star then revealed that she can laugh at it just as much as anyone else, joking: "His eyesight is going, so we say I'm siphoning off his youth at night."
When her situation was compared to Cher's - who has also found herself defending the decision to date a man 40 years younger than her - Helena raved: "Good on men for appreciating different kinds of beauty and finding other things sexy.
"Collagen is not the only form of sexiness; there's character, fun, mischief and humour. As long as you've got the laughter, the intimacy will be there."
Before she started seeing Rye, Helena had been in a relationship with director Tim Burton, 64, who she worked with in films like Sweeney Todd, Alice In Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Corpse Bride.
The Hollywood couple were together for 13 years and share two children together.
In an earlier interview with The Times, Helena had described her new boyfriend as 'unbelievably mature' and 'an old soul in a young body'.
She added: "People are slightly frightened of older women, but he isn't. Women can be very powerful when they're older."
Elsewhere in her latest interview, Helena, rather controversially, stood up for both JK Rowling and Johnny Depp - both of whom she has worked closely with over her career.
On the Depp v Heard trial, Helena said: "My view is that [Amber Heard] got on that [#MeToo] pendulum. That’s the problem with these things - that people will jump on the bandwagon because it’s the trend and to be the poster girl for it."
Commenting on the criticism facing JK Rowling over her past transphobic statements, Helena suggested: “It’s horrendous, a load of bollocks. I think she has been hounded.
"It’s been taken to the extreme, the judgmentalism of people. She’s allowed her opinion, particularly if she’s suffered abuse."