Timothée Chalamet will star as Willy Wonka in the upcoming musical prequel Wonka. The film comes after a string of memorable performances from the young actor in Call Me By Your Name, Dune, and Bones and All.
Chalamet's role as Wonka is different in the sense that it's a prequel. Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp starred as Wonka in film adaptations of Roald Dahl's book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
While most people consider Wilder's original role as Wonka to be a classic, many have a soft spot for Johnny Depp's version. When asked what he thought of the 2005 Tim Burton-directed remake, Wilder gave his honest opinion.
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."
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."
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.’"
Gene Wilder Admitted He Wasn't A Fan Of The Tim Burton Version Of Willy Wonka
Gene Wilder's role as Willy Wonka became one of his most memorable moments on film. However, it's a moment that Wilder himself was prepared to reject if they didn't agree on his very specific stipulation.
"I was offered the part. I read the [Roald Dahl] book. And Mel Stuart, the director, came to my home in New York," Wilder told Larry King in 2002. "He said, ‘You wanna do it?’ and I said, ‘Well, I’ll tell you, I will do it if I can come out, and all the crowd quiets down, and I am using a cane.’ Oh, my God. Willy Wonka is crippled. ‘And I walk slowly and you can hear a pin drop. And my cane gets stuck in a brick. And I fall forward onto my face and do a forward somersault and jump up, and they all start to applaud.'"
Wilder's request confused Stuart, but it showed him that Wilder completely understood the character. He asked Wilder his reason for the stunt.
"I said, ‘because no one will know from that point on whether I am lying or telling the truth,'” Wilder said. Stuart asked, “Are you saying you won’t do that film if you can’t do that?” to which Wilder replied “‘That’s what I’m saying.’ And I meant it," Wilder said.
Years later, Wilder was being interviewed by Robert Osborne on the 92nd Street Y stage in 2013. He was asked his opinion of the 2005 Tim Burton-directed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp.
"I think it's an insult," Wilder admitted. "To do that with Johnny Depp, who I think is a good actor and I like him, but I don't care for that director. He's a talented man, but I don't care for him for doing stuff like he did."
