May 18, 2000

Liz Smith

MAKING MOVIES in Chicago

Mel Gibson and the crew of Paramount's coming romantic comedy "What Women Want" were thrilled one night when Steve Martin stopped by the set with his own costars, Helena Bonham Carter and Laura Dern. They are making "Novocaine" in the Windy City.

As Gibson sprinted down a tree-lined Chicago street, followed by a Steadicam operator in a golf cart, the big star was surprised to find Martin trotting alongside him. Both men, without coaching, stopped on their marks and looked quizzically at the camera.

The screenplay for "What Women Want" was co-written by Nancy Meyers, who is also the film's producer and director. It's about an ad exec with the ability to read women's minds. Helen Hunt co-stars with Gibson.

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http://people.aol.com/people/news/now/0,10958,122345,00.html

Stephen M. Silverman

Danny Glover has new competition when it comes to running with his "Lethal Weapon" partner Mel Gibson: Steve Martin. PEOPLE reports that the white-haired comedian and writer was in Chicago making his new movie "Novocaine" at the same time mighty Mel was in the Windy City making "What Women Want," directed by Nancy Myers. Myers, says PEOPLE, happens to be a pal of Martin's, having written his "Father of the Bride" movies. So the two schemed to put Martin in a scene in which Mel runs down the street and stops to look into costar Helen Hunt's apartment. With the scene in the can, the rushes went back to the studio in Hollywood -- where nobody seemed to notice that, out of nowhere, Steve Martin suddenly appeared in the scene. Finally, six weeks later, one exec piped up how funny it was to have Martin running with Gibson. That was the last laugh, however: The scene's been cut from the picture.

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http://www.eonline.com/Gossip/Awful/Archive2000/000427d.html

April 20, 2000

Helena Bonham Carter, up in Chicago filming Novocaine with Steve Martin. Hits a bookstore called Anthropology in her spare time. Yes, Helena is still beautiful, but why does she have that bad red dye job with haphazard pigtails, pasty skin and those awful, homeless-looking clothes (pilled sweater, bad platforms and kneesocks)? Helena, darling, tell us this is how you look in the movie, and we all might sleep better tonight. H.B.C., for the reading record, bought several copies of A Swell Girl's Guide to Life. Hardly sounds like stiff-upper-lip material to me. Maybe the broad goes for the American way more than she lets on (obviously). Speaking of things USA, didn't that corn dog...

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Celebrity News: 31st July 2000

An unlikely romance is blooming between English rose Helena Bonham Carter and writer/actor/director Steve Martin. Helena, 34, has been working with the 55-year-old funnyman on new movie Novocaine (2000). Sources say they got together while filming and are continuing to date - although they're taking things slowly.

Helena only recently split with Kenneth Branagh after five years, while Martin was wary of getting involved in a relationship since ex-lover Anne Heche left him and came out as a lesbian. But the pair are said to be very fond of each other - and a friend of Martin adds, "It's early and they are taking things very slowly. It was really the last thing Helena was expecting but she is very happy with Steve. They are great together."

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July 31, 2000, Monday

FEATURES; Pg. 19

Jessica Callan / Eva Simpson / Polly Graham

SHE'S the definitive English rose with the cut-glass accent. He's a wild and crazy guy 21 years her senior.

But 3am can reveal one of the most extraordinary romances of the year: upper -crust actress Helena Bonham Carter and American comedian Steve Martin.

The unlikely pair are something of a hot item after falling in love on the Los Angeles set of Steve's new comedy movie Novocaine.

Chances of them getting together were slim. Helena, 34, was still smarting after the collapse of her five-year relationship with King of the Luvvies Kenneth Branagh.

And white-haired Steve, 55, was wary of getting into another relationship after his lover, actress Anne Heche, left him and ended up in a highly-publicised lesbian relationship with comedienne Ellen De Generes. Yet love has blossomed and the couple are said to be extremely fond of each other."

In the film - out in the autumn - Steve plays a mild-mannered dentist who becomes a murder suspect after tangling with a sexy femme fatale, played by Helena. The former Oxford University student, who made her name in costume dramas such as A Room With A View, has been spending more time in America in a bid to change her prim-and -proper image.

Her role as a raunchy vamp in Brad Pitt's Fight Club was a revelation and got all Hollywood a-buzz.

And in this picture of her taken at the weekend (left), she may still be scowling, but her clothes are getting skimpier. Even if the Spice Girl trainers are bit out of place.

Her new boyfriend is keen on Helena's scatty and dishevelled look.

Steve, star of such classic comedy films as Roxanne and Planes, Trains And Auto-mobiles, has always had a hankering for eccentric English ladies.

He was formerly married to Surrey-born actress Victoria Tennant, who starred alongside him in LA Story. But they divorced in 1993 after seven years together. Steve - who decided on a career in comedy after seeing Monty Python on TV - is a regular visitor to Britain and his close friends include Richard E Grant.

A friend says of his latest romance: "It's early days and they are taking things very slowly.

"It was really the last thing Helena was expecting, but she is very happy with Steve. They are great together."

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August 1, 2000

By Kathryn Knight

AT first glance, it seems the most unlikely cinematic pairing. Helena Bonham Carter, the much-corseted English aristocrat actress and Hollywood funnyman, Steve Martin, starring in a romantic comedy. Yet if recent reports are true, they are not only proving their chemistry on celluloid, but are also continuing their relationship long after the cameras stop rolling for the day.

They are said to have fallen in love in Los Angeles during filming of the comedy-drama Novocaine, in which Martin plays a dentist-cum-murder suspect who falls for Helena, the movie's femme fatale. The couple hit it off immediately, but after several months on set, their friendship is said to have blossomed into romance and, while it is still in its early stages, the Hollywood rumour mill is abuzz with talk of the unexpected liaison.

"It was the last thing anyone was expecting," said one LA-based journalist. "They are taking things slowly, but they certainly seem to be very happy with each other."

Despite the 21-year age gap, they may have more in common than appearances suggest; not least a beleaguered love life and a strong eccentric streak. Behind his comic image, Martin still bears the scars from his break-up with actress Anne Heche, who left him only to end up in a highly public lesbian relationship with US sit-com star Ellen De Generes. He had already divorced English actress Victoria Tennant, after seven years of marriage.

It may help to make him a more attractive proposition for Helena, who has been through her own turbulent times, particularly over the past year following her emotionally devastating split with actor-director Kenneth Branagh. Their relationship began while filming Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. At the time, Branagh was going through the painful break-up of his marriage to actress-screenwriter Emma Thompson.

Soon, gossip columns were linking Helena and Branagh and their romance was confirmed when they were spotted kissing in London's Hyde Park. Notoriously camera shy, they nonetheless went on to become the darlings of the theatrical and movie establishment. Last September, Helena felt confident enough to tell the world: "I'm definitely happy and in love." Yet only weeks later, she was dealing with the unexpected fall-out from their relationship's demise.

Clearly distraught, she was photographed on a number of occasions looking downcast and lost.

Further evidence to suggest that she was struggling to cope with the situation came when she was seen emerging from a north London alternative therapy clinic which specialises in healing and relationship counselling.

Helena had lived at her parents' London home until two years ago, when she moved to a converted artist's studio 10 minutes' down the road from them in Hampstead. Poignantly, she and Branagh had planned to renovate it together, although now she has undertaken the project alone.

Aside from her close-knit family, the one place she has been able to find solace is in her professional life, as her career continues to go from strength to strength. Helena, it seems, has inherited a steely will to succeed from her antecedents. Her great-grandfather is Herbert Asquith, the great Liberal prime minister, and his daughter - Helena's grandmother - was Lady Violet Bonham Carter, socialite baroness and one of the great post- war stalwarts of the Liberal Party.

At 13, Helena invested GBP 25 that she won as a poetry prize to hire an agent and place her photo in a casting directory - and she has never looked back. After years of being typecast as a Merchant-Ivory heroine, she has proved of late to be a versatile and impressive actress.

Ironically, it was her relationship with Branagh that helped mark a departure from the cinematic cliches that had dogged her for so long.

She won critical acclaim for her portrayal of a motor neurone disease sufferer in The Theory of Flight (starring alongside Branagh); married Woody Allen in Mighty Aphrodite, a typical tale of Manhattan madness; and, more recently, startled US and British audiences with her punkish street girl role alongside Brad Pitt in the controversial but acclaimed movie Fight Club.

Her non-conformity also means that she adopts a refreshingly down to earth approach to celebrity.

She tends to eschew large showbiz events, only attending the occasional launch, and is regularly seen wandering around Hampstead swathed in unflattering clothes and almost unrecognisable as a screen star. She has spoken of the fact that she hates her English rose image - "Demure, I'm not demure. I drink Diet Coke, I smoke, I swear and I arm wrestle" - and she lost a GBP 500,000 contract with cosmetic giant Yardley after proclaiming that she didn't like make-up.

Under the circumstances, then, the unconventional Steve Martin may be just the tonic that Helena needs. As with all show business romances, however, things are never simple and the Hollywood star may still have Branagh to contend with. Helena and her former beau have been seen together on a number of occasions recently, leading friends to speculate that the pair regret not having made a go of their partnership. Certainly, she still openly shows her support, turning up with her mother at the premiere of Branagh's latest film Love's Labour's Lost. Rumours that their relationship had been rekindled were fuelled earlier this year when they were seen kissing near her home.

When questioned, however, the star merely smiled and said: "We might have been seen kissing, but I'm not going to say anything."

She has adopted the same taciturn approach to rumours about her relationship with Steve Martin. At her London agent's offices, inquiries regarding the matter were met with a frosty silence and while shopping in Hampstead at the weekend, the actress was giving nothing away.

Whatever path she follows, however, she may want to recall her own words of a few years ago, when she had just embarked on her relationship with Branagh. "It's a ridiculous profession for having relationships. There are impossible pressures to deal with," she said. "It's amazing that any of them succeed."

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August 13, 2000, Sunday

FEATURES; Pg. 15

Ian Hyland

IN one of the most amazing pieces of news to emerge since rumours of a romance between Helena Bonham Carter and funnyman Steve Martin it now emerges that the brief affair is sadly over. What's interesting is where the news has been emerging from - the set of the new movie they are filming together. Which needs publicity. Can't remember what it's called.

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Celebrity News: 14th August 2000

Steve Martin is devastated after a short fling with gorgeous British actress Helena Bonham Carter came to an end. The split came while they shot their upcoming film Novocaine (2000) in California - and sources say the 21 year age gap between the pair was the telling factor. A source says, "Helena told him, 'It's just not going to work for us'. She thinks he's a great guy and they had some good times but now it's over." A pal adds, "Steve was already thinking marriage but Helena told Steve she wasn't up for a serious relationship - let alone marriage."

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Aug. 25, 2000

STEVE MARTIN is not wild and crazy about his love life -- he's bemoaning the end of a short secret romance with British actress Helena Bonham Carter.

She broke his heart by dumping him after an on-the-set fling while they were making the movie "Novocaine" in California.

The comic -- who at 55 is 21 years older than Helena -- has been phoning Helena in London in the hope of rekindling their romance, say sources.

But an insider said: "Helena told him `It's just not going to work for us.' She thinks he's a great guy, and they had some good times, but now it's over."

Steve is no stranger to heartache.

He thought actress Bernadette Peters was the love of his life, but their relationship fizzled after several years.

His seven-year marriage to British actress Victoria Tennant crumbled when she left him for another man.

Next came an affair with actress Anne Heche. That ended when she dumped him and ended up with Ellen DeGeneres. NOTE: Not true. There was over a year between the end of her relationship with Steve and her taking up with Ellen.

Now Steve has been "absolutely shattered" by Helena's exit, said a pal. "Steve was already thinking marriage. But Helena told Steve she wasn't up for a serious relationship -- certainly not marriage!"

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Mitchell Fink

September 12, 2000

Recent British reports of a breakup between Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter were greatly exaggerated. The two were spotted together at Orso in L.A. the other day looking anything but estranged.

With Lauren Rubin

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Monday, July 31, 2000

He's a wild and crazy guy. Let's hope she is too!

Looks like it has been love on the set of Novocaine for Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter. Steve had dated Anne Heche before she decided to "switch teams" and Helena recently broke off with Kenneth Branagh. Lets hope it's true love for the both of them.

posted by susan @ 10:08 PM link

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Monday, August 14, 2000

Now he is a wild, crazy, lonely guy :-(

Looks like Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter have broken up. Apparently, the age difference (about 20 years) was too much for her.

posted by susan @ 9:47 PM link

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Tuesday, September 12, 2000

Hum, maybe they are still together?

The recent reports that Steve Martin and Helena Bonham Carter had broken up, may not be true.

posted by susan @ 9:52 PM link

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INSIDE SCOOP...from the set of Novocaine

My question: Did it appear something was going on between Steve/Helena Bonham-Carter?

Answer: Steve was obviously paying a lot of attention to her. At one point he took a book off of a bookshelf, "Treasures of Britain", and asked Helena if she was in it. When they did leave the set (for lunch, etc.) he advised her, and led her over to the onlookers, to give a few autographs. She would sit and watch him adoringly while he was talking to other people. It was heard later on the set that they were a couple and Steve Martin had told friends (Kevin Bacon) that this was it, he was going to get married again. And then she dumped him, reportedly because of the age difference.

The Insider (Not available)

April 10, 2001 - 10:27:08