Willy Wonka has become one of the most favourite characters of all time ever since Johnny Depp essayed the imaginative chocolatier in a quirky manner in ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ (2005). Although the Willy Wonka character was previously played by Gene Wilder in the namesake film, released in 1971, Johnny Depp’s version was highly appreciated and received much love.
Now after eighteen years of Johnny Depp’s version, Warner Bros. is bringing back Willy Wonka in a new way with Timothée Chalamet in a film titled ‘Wonka’. Despite reports over the years that Warner Bros. has gone through several auditions with Donald Glover, Ezra Miller and Ryan Gosling to play Willy Wonka, it was Timothée Chalamet who got the offer finally.
Did you know Timothée did not even have to give an audition for ‘Wonka’? Director Paul King recently told Rolling Stone that he is a Chalamet ‘stan’, which made him believe that Timothée has the ability to sing and dance that are required for the role of Willy Wonka.
King said, “It was a straight offer because he’s great and he was the only person in my mind who could do it. But because he is Timothée Chalamet and his life is so absurd, his high school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views. So I knew from stanning for Timmy Chalamet that he could sing and dance really well.”
“I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was. When I spoke to him, he was quite keen. He would do tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that’,” King further continued.
Just three days ago, Warner Bros. finally dropped the trailer of ‘Wonka’ and Chalamet’s portrayal seems quite commendable. The quirkiness, the funny moments and that bewildered face with his big eyes add a lot to his performance.
Directed by Paul King, starring Timothée Chalamet, Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Olivia Colman and Freya Parker, ‘Wonka’ is releasing in cinemas on December 15, 2023.
