Los Angeles, May 6 (IANS): Actress Helena Bonham Carter says she felt "fragile" after splitting from director Tim Burton after being together for more than a decade.

The actress, 49, opened up about her 2014 breakup in the May edition of Britain's Harper's Bazaar magazine, reports standard.co.uk. 

Carter shared that she longed to put “handle with care” tape on her forehead after her marriage to Burton ended. But she asserted that she is still on cordial terms with Burton and could even work together in the future.

She said: “With divorce, you go through massive grief...it is a death of a relationship, so it’s utterly bewildering. Your identity, everything, changes.”

The actress added: “Everyone always says you have to be strong and have a stiff upper lip, but it’s okay to be fragile.” 

Carter is about to star in “Alice Through The Looking Glass” on the big screen, which will release in India on May 27. And she has taken some advice from the story. 

She said: “You’ve got to take very small steps, and sometimes you won’t know where to go next because you’ve lost yourself. There’s a great quote I’ve stuck next to the kettle. It’s from Alice: ‘I can’t explain myself … because I’m not myself’.”

Of her relationship with Burton now, she added: “We really do get on, so that’s good. I understand him very well and he understands me.

"It might be easier to work together without being together any more. He always only cast me with great embarrassment.”

The duo, who split in 2014, made six films together and have two children, Billy, 12, and Nell, eight.