Helena Bonham Carter: Ocean's Eight screenplay is great for women

Helena Bonham Carter won’t confirm whether she’s starring in Gary Ross’ all-female Ocean’s Eleven spin-off, Ocean’s Eight, but she is definitely a fan of the script.

The screenplay, which is credited to newcomer Olivia Milch, reportedly focuses on a heist during New York’s annual Met Gala. “It’s a really good script — but I still don’t know if I’m going to be in it,” Bonham Carter tells EW. “But it’s a great script, and it’s great for women. Just hilarious.”

Ross (The Hunger Games), while doing promotion for his new film Free State of Jones, would not breath a word about the Ocean’s Eight casting rumors involving the likes of Sandra Bullock, Elizabeth Banks, Cate Blanchett, Mindy Kaling, and Bonham Carter. And Bonham Carter says she simply doesn’t know.

“I’d better get on the phone,” says the two-time Oscar-nominated actress, whose roles have ranged from Brad Pitt’s goth girlfriend in Fight Club to the Queen Mum in The King’s Speech. “I have no idea if I’m in it. I better go and find out. … I’ve got to contact them because I’ve finally emerged from doing a big job.”

The movie that she recently wrapped is a true-life drama costarring Hilary Swank. Bonham Carter plays Eleanor Riese, a mentally ill San Francisco woman who in 1987 successfully sued the hospital in which she was being treated. The film is called 55 Steps. “I guess everything I do now has a number in it,” jokes Bonham Carter, referring to Ocean’s Eight. “But seems like I’m going backwards in numbers — just like England with its currency.”

Whether or not she’s starring in Ocean’s Eight, it seems Bonham Carter supports the concept. “When everyone says, ‘Well, most characters in commercial films can just as easily be played by a woman,’ well, I can tell you, it’s true,” she says. “That’s what they’ve just done with this.”