Helena Bonham Carter takes charge at home.

The 'Alice in Wonderland' actress - who raises son Billy, six, and two-year-old daughter Nell with her partner Tim Burton - admits the director prefers her to make the decisions in their household, but insists it doesn't make him a bad family man.

She said: "At home I'm the boss - he calls me 'chief' and I would say on the whole he likes me to make the decisions.

"He's not a mad professor type. His time management is good. He is financially responsible. A part of him maybe exists in an alternative reality but he is a very sane and grounded good father."

Despite their domestic attitudes, Helena admits her forthright nature can often lead to clashes when they work together, which they have done on five occasions.

She said: "At work is where we sometimes get it wrong. He's the boss and I'm not as silent as he'd like me to be."