'He's basically a decent man’: Helena Bonham Carter defends friendship with David Cameron
‘He’s not like Boris, who’s an egomaniac,’ actor said
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Helena Bonham Carter has defended her friendship with David Cameron, while arguing that the former PM is “basically a decent man”.
“With Cameron and Brexit, what I find is a shame – and people will hate to hear this – but he’s basically a decent man,” the actor said. “People want to hate him and rubbish him and decide that he’s all sorts of things, but contradictory things can coexist.”
Bonham Carter continued: “Yes, he made the wrong decision that’s had a calamitous impact, but alongside that, in disposition, he’s much more well balanced than any of our world leaders at this time, and he has an intelligence.
“He had an amazing ability to withstand pressure. There are certain qualities that don’t translate on screen – humour and intelligence. If you meet him, then you go, ‘Oh, I get it, you’re incredibly clever and funny.’ And I feel like one massive thing then disqualifies all qualities.”
When prodded by The Sunday Times Magazine on Cameron’s actions in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote, Bonham Carter said: “I don’t think he had a choice. I don’t think he is a ‘run-awayer’. He has got a huge responsibility – not to himself, like Boris, who’s an egomaniac, or Trump – but to the country.”
In 2011, Bonham Carter and her former husband Tim Burton were photographed alongside Cameron, his wife Samantha and Michael Gove on a walk near Chequers.
“It was hilarious, surreal,” Bonham Carter said of the trip, adding that she is “not not close” to the Camerons today. “I just haven’t seen them. I think they’ve been pretty busy.”
Bonham Carter returns to TV screens this month as Princess Margaret in the eagerly anticipated third season of The Crown. All episodes will arrive on Netflix on 17 November.
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