Helena Bonham Carter likes portraying "weird" women.

The Oscar-nominated actress - who has portrayed characters ranging from the unstable Bellatrix Lestrange in the 'Harry Potter' series to the demanding Red Queen in 'Alice in Wonderland' - finds herself attracted to unusual roles and enjoys dressing up to play parts.

She told Germany's Tele 5 website: "I love dressing up and playing weird women. It would be boring for me to try and look as beautiful as possible on screen. Tim Burton absolutely understands that and leaves me to choose which characters I want to play in his films.

"In my view women like that are ill, and for some reason I'm attracted to that. It makes me wonder what made them turn evil. As an actress it's my job to be understanding towards women like that and to not be judgmental. Something about this Madness attracts me."

However, the 45-year-old star admits she has not always liked her performances in movies, and was reluctant to star in 2001's 'Planet Of The Apes' alongside Mark Wahlberg because she "didn't like" the story.

She added: "I already didn't like The Script. But my agent told me I couldn't really get out of it and that it could be very important to further my career."