Known for her roles in independent films and large-scale blockbusters, she is the recipient of such accolades as a British Academy Film Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards and four British Academy Television Awards. Bonham Carter began her film career playing Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View (1985) and the title character in Lady Jane (1986). 

Her early period roles saw her typecast as a virginal "English rose", a label she was uncomfortable with. She is best known for her eccentric fashion, dark aesthetic, and for often playing quirky women. For her role as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove (1997), Bonham Carter received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in The King"s Speech (2010), she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other films include Hamlet (1990), Howards End (1992), Mary Shelley"s Frankenstein (1994), Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Fight Club (1999), Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), Harry Potter series (2007–11) as Bellatrix Lestrange, Great Expectations (2012) as Miss Havisham, Les Misérables (2012), Cinderella (2015), Ocean"s 8 (2018) and Enola Holmes (2020). 

Her collaborations with director Tim Burton include Big Fish (2003), Corpse Bride (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) as Mrs. Lovett, Alice in Wonderland (2010) as the Red Queen, and Dark Shadows (2012).