Claim: Helena Bonham Carter was in movies.

Big Fish is a 2003 American fantasy comedy-drama film based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Daniel Wallace . The film was directed by Tim Burton and stars Ewan McGregor , Albert Finney , Billy Crudup , Jessica Lange , and Marion Cotillard . Other roles are performed by Steve Buscemi , Helena Bonham Carter , Matthew McGrory , and Danny DeVito among others . Edward Bloom -LRB- Finney -RRB- , a former traveling salesman in the Southern United States with a gift for storytelling , is now confined to his deathbed . Will -LRB- Crudup -RRB- , his estranged son , attempts to mend their relationship as Bloom relates tall tales of his eventful life as a young adult -LRB- portrayed by Ewan McGregor in the flashback scenes -RRB- .   Screenwriter John August read a manuscript of the novel six months before it was published and convinced Columbia Pictures to acquire the rights . August began adapting the novel while producers negotiated with Steven Spielberg who planned to direct after finishing Minority Report -LRB- 2002 -RRB- . Spielberg considered Jack Nicholson for the role of Edward Bloom , but eventually dropped the project to focus on Catch Me If You Can -LRB- 2002 -RRB- . Tim Burton and Richard D. Zanuck took over after completing Planet of the Apes -LRB- 2001 -RRB- and brought Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney on board .   The film 's theme of reconciliation between a dying father and his son had special significance for Burton , as his father had died in 2000 and his mother in 2002 , a month before he signed on to direct . Big Fish was shot on location in Alabama in a series of fairy tale vignettes evoking the tone of a Southern Gothic fantasy . The film received award nominations in multiple film categories , including four Golden Globe Award nominations , seven nominations from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts , two Saturn Award nominations , and an Oscar and a Grammy Award nomination for Danny Elfman 's original score .