Highlights
- Hugh Grant expressed his dissatisfaction with working on “Wonka,” citing discomfort and confusion during the filming process.
- Grant admitted to taking on film roles primarily for financial reasons, as he has many children to support.
- Timothée Chalamet was chosen for the role of Willy Wonka based on his previous performances in high school musical productions, particularly showcasing his dancing abilities.
Hugh Grant rose to fame as a leading man in the 90s. The actor was known for starring in romantic comedies and audiences loved him in those roles. As his fame grew, however, Grant moved into different kinds of roles. These were certainly interesting and showed off his acting range.
Among these roles is his latest performance as an Oompa Loompa in Paul King’s Wonka. The film stars Timothée Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka on the verge of becoming a successful chocolate maker.
During promotion for the film, Grant did an interview where he shared his thoughts about the process. However, while he was brutally honest in his answers, this would provoke a ton of online criticism.
Hugh Grant Said That He Hated Working On ‘Wonka’ But Explained That He Needed The Money
In a 2023 interview with Metro, Hugh Grant talked about the Wonka film and his role as an Oompa Loompa.
Grant’s face was superimposed onto an animated Oompa Loompa’s body using CGI. During the interview, Grant talked about the challenging process to pull this off, which included wearing a camera rig around his head.
“It was like a crown of thorns, very uncomfortable,” he said. “I made a big fuss about it. I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.”
The actor also said that he wasn’t sure if he should “act with my body or not” during filming and “never received a satisfactory answer.”
“And frankly, what I did with my body was terrible, and it’s all been replaced with an animator,” Grant said, adding that while his character’s dancing scenes “should” have been a fun experience, “that was done by the animator.”
Grant was then asked if the film’s final result was worth all the sacrifices he made in order to pull off the Oompa Loompa role. The actor replied, “Not really,” to which all his cast mates laughed.
Grant did make it clear that his issue wasn’t with the Wonka film or its director, Paul King.
“I slightly hate [making films] but I have lots of children and need money,” Grant admitted.
He also said that he takes issue with the industry’s frequent use of CGI in films. He said that while working with King on Paddington 2, he asked, “Is that a real bear?”
“It’s very confusing. With CGI now, you can’t tell what’s going on,” Grant said.
Was Hugh Grant Crusty With Timothee Chalamet On The Set Of Wonka?
Hugh Grant was admittedly leery of working with Oscar nominee Timothee Chalamet on their new film.
While Grant’s comments made headlines and attracted online criticism, King actually said this attitude was exactly why Grant was perfect for the role.
“The Oompa Loompas don’t have any dialogue in the book, really, and the films, they’ve sort of got very little,” King said in an interview with The Radio Times. “But in the book they do have these very, very long songs — or they’re presented as songs, they’re poems.”
He added, “But they’re so funny, and I was reading them sort of trying to get a voice in my head, and they’re so sort of biting and sarcastic and scornful and incredibly funny, and Hugh’s voice just kept coming towards me.”
Timothée Chalamet Said He Enjoyed Going From ‘Bones And All’ To ‘Wonka’
Chalamet has been a rising movie star in Hollywood for the past several years. His breakout role in Luca Guadagnino’s 2017 romance Call Me By Your Name earned him Oscar recognition. However, he continued to live his life as a regular person.
For example, Chalamet continued to ride the subway in New York City, where he grew up.
In 2022, Chalamet spoke with Variety when promoting his starring role in another Guadagnino film, Bones and All. Chalamet talked about his relationship with fame and how he keeps things in perspective.
“Venice — that was fun,” he said, referring to the Venice Film Festival, where the film premiered. “I enjoy those moments and have a lot of gratitude for them. And I definitely never want to be expectant about it.”
Chalamet spoke about his love for independent films and musicians.
“Those are the kind of projects that I grew up loving,” he revealed. “Even just on the music side, those are the kind of artists that inspire me — not because there’s a beat per minute that places well in the Top 40, but because they’re just putting their artistic ethos on something.”
Chalamet also spoke about the hectic schedule he endured filming Dune: Part Two, Bones and All, and Wonka.
“We did the French Dispatch premiere in Cannes,” he said. “And then I was immediately doing the vocal and dance training at Leavesden,” to film Wonka, “which was wonderful, because I went from playing a disenfranchised cannibal on the outskirts of American society in the ’80s to a gifted young chocolatier and now a space prophet.”
Here’s The One Condition Gene Wilder Had For Playing Willy Wonka
It turns out Gene Wilder had the same sort of dry humor as the character he played in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Chalamet also spoke to Time about his approach to playing this current version of Wonka.
“It’s not mining the darker emotions in life,” he explained. “It’s a celebration of being off-center and of being OK with the weirder parts of you that don’t quite fit in.”
Timothée Chalamet Was Offered The Role Of Wonka For This Specific Reason
Chalamet’s role as Willy Wonka in the upcoming prequel Wonka has been getting a lot of attention. The Paul King-directed musical will see the young actor stepping into shoes previously filled by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.
When speaking to Rolling Stone, King explained that he didn’t ask Chalamet to audition for the role. As far as he was concerned, watching Chalamet’s high school productions on YouTube was all the audition he needed.
“It was a straight offer because he’s great and he was the only person in my mind who could do it,” King said. “But because he’s Timothée Chalamet and his life is so absurd, his high school musical performances are on YouTube and have hundreds of thousands of views.”
Gene Wilder Didn’t Hold Back When Asked His Opinion On Johnny Depp’s Role As Willy Wonka
The legendary actor gave his honest opinion about the Tim Burton-directed remake.
One of the key requirements Chalamet still needed to pass, however, was his dancing ability. According to King, he more than met those requirements.
“I knew that was in his arsenal, but I didn’t know how good he was,” King said. “When I spoke to him he was quite keen. He’d done tap dancing in high school and he was like, ‘I’d quite like to show people I can do that.’”
Source: NewsFinale
