There's no earthly way of knowing...which direction Gene Wilder was going.
The icon played Willy Wonka in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but actor and character often became one while filming, making it hard to figure out where Wilder started and Wonka ended. Wilder injected his expert improvisational skills into the chocolatier so much that Wilder's castmates never really knew if it was Wilder or Wonka talking to them. When Wonka thought the suspense was terrible but hoped it would last, so did Wilder.
Wilder was given free rein to improvise. In fact, Wilder only agreed to play Wonka if he was allowed this artistic freedom during shooting. He improvised wherever he wanted to get genuine reactions from his cast members, and sometimes it made the entire scene. The cast, including Charlie himself, Peter Ostrum, never knew what Wilder would pull next. He kept them on their toes the entire time.
We doubt Timothée Chalamet will be able to recreate that cinematic magic and maneuver that kind of expert acting. Many people were almost Willy Wonka but Wilder will always be the best.
A Little Nonsense Now And Then Is Relished By The Wisest Men
Even though Mel Stuart was directing the film, it became quite clear early on that Wilder wanted a lot of control over his character. Wonka himself said, "Time is a precious thing. Never waste it," and Wilder certainly didn't. He didn't want to waste the audience's or his co-star's reactions either.
Most of the scenes in the film get a genuine reaction from the cast, including when they enter the candy garden, and that's just what Wilder and Stuart wanted.
No one onboard the Wonkatania knew what Wilder was going to do before going into that freaky psychedelic tunnel that quickly became a nightmare. Wonka broke out into his psychotic monologue which only intensified the moment, but no one knew it would be that crazy. All of the actor's reactions are genuine because no one, not even Stuart knew how Wilder was going to read the scene.
"I had no idea what he was gonna do with that line," Stuart said in the documentary, Pure Imagination. "He got more and more excited, screaming. That, and when [he] screams at Charlie about how he couldn't win the chocolate, he was just overpowering. He came up with the most wonderful moments in the film, portraying Wonka as half man, half saint, and that's what makes the movie so good."
Wilder also improvised the ending scene where Charlie and Grandpa Joe confront Wonka in his office. Ostrum said in an interview that Wilder didn't let him know before they shot the scene how angry he would get. They rehearsed it but Wilder kept his reaction as light as possible so when they filmed it, and Wilder/Wonka exploded, they were able to get Ostrum's genuine reaction on camera.
But Wilder felt bad about not telling Ostrum because they'd become good friends. They even shared a chocolate bar together at lunch each day during filming.
The most famous improvised scene in the film though happened during Wonka's big entrance. The scene was conceptualized by Wilder himself, even before he accepted the part.
In fact, after reading the script, Wilder told Stuart that he'd accept the role on one condition: that he'd be allowed to improvise his big entrance and trick the audience (both on and off the screen) as well as his castmates into thinking he had a limp.
According to LettersofNote, Wilder wrote to Stuart to explain what he wanted to do in the scene.
"When I make my first entrance," Wilder wrote, "I'd like to come out of the door carrying a cane and then walk toward the crowd with a limp. After the crowd sees Willy Wonka is a cripple, they all whisper to themselves and then become deathly quiet. As I walk toward them, my cane sinks into one of the cobblestones I'm walking on and stands straight up, by itself; but I keep on walking until I realize that I no longer have my cane. I start to fall forward, and just before I hit the ground, I do a beautiful forward somersault and bounce back up, to great applause."
When Stuart asked Wilder why, Wilder wrote back, "Because from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth." And they didn't.
Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt was fooled into thinking Wilder actually had a limp. During the DVD commentary, she said that she thought Wilder had really injured his leg and feared that filming would have to be halted. Her reaction along with everyone else in the crowd was real.
Wilder Was The Perfect Wonka
When Stuart first met with Wilder, he knew the charismatic actor would be absolutely perfect for the role just by taking one look at him.
"Perfect does not begin to describe him. The role fit him tighter than one of Cousteau’s wet suits," Stuart said. "Gene walked in and I realized that his presence -- his humor, the humor in his eyes … was Wonka. ... He had the sardonic, demonic edge that we were looking for."
They only paid him $150,000 for the part and Roald Dahl might have hated his performance and the film, but Wilder was nominated for a Golden Globe for Wonka. Not only that but his version of Wonka has gone down as one of the most famous characters in cinema.
When Tim Burton made Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wilder hated Johnny Depp's version of the character. So we can only guess he'd have some relatively negative opinions about Chalamet's upcoming portrayal. Only Wilder's performance gave Wonka the little kick that it needed. Not going to lie though, we never knew we'd feel sorry for the child actor's having to walk on eggshells 9or more like candy wrappers) around Wilder. Apparently working on a film about candy isn't all it's cracked up to be. Still, Ostrum says he won the Golden Ticket getting star alongside Wilder in his only film.
