Helena Bonham Carter's real life resembles 'Alice in Wonderland'.

The eccentric British actress - who has children Billy, six, and Nell, two, with her partner, the movie's director Tim Burton who she doesn't live with - admits her house resembles the chaotic set of the movie.

He said: "My house looks like Wonderland. I've got fob watches and clocks of different sizes, lots of black and white tea sets.

"I've always loved watches and keys and keyrings and keyholes. They fascinate me. And hats. And little doors. I've got little doors in my garden. And pigs. I wish I had a pig. I've been thinking about getting a micro-pig."

Helena, who plays the role of the angry Red Queen in the movie - which shows Alice as a teenager, years after the setting of the original Lewis Carroll book - also admitted she loves playing "mentally ill" characters.

She said: "I don't look at these characters and think 'villain'. I look at them and think 'mentally ill people'. And I love mentally ill people. They're the most interesting to play. I see Bellatrix Lestrange, the character I play in 'Harry Potter', as damaged, not evil."

Discussing her casting as the Red Queen, she told the Scotsman: "I didn't really understand what Tim meant by Red Queen.

"Then I read, 'Enter queen, has huge oversized head, very angry...' and thought, 'So that's how you see me?' "