Johnny Depp and Tim Burton were considered the absolute Hollywood dream duo for years. Not only “Edward Scissorhands”, “Ed Wood” and “Sleepy Hollow” were responsible for the high reputation of the artist duo, the loving fantasy adventure “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” also played a role. Depp delivered one of his most memorable performances as Willy Wonka in Roald Dahl’s film adaptation.
But it could have ended very differently. Johnny Depp, who was probably the biggest star in the film industry in the early 2000s, had well-known competition! Tim Burton considered several actors for the role of Willy Wonka. Including Nicolas Cage (“Leaving Las Vegas”), Adam Sandler (“The Black Diamond”) and Jim Carrey (“Dumb and Dumber”). But a completely different star came closest to starring in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”: action giant Dwayne Johnson.
Dwayne Johnson as Willy Wonka?!
This one has via the following words were written: “Tim Burton thought I should play Will Wonka in his remake of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember thinking, ‘Holy shit, I’m in!’ But that was many years ago, I had just arrived in Hollywood with no global box office track record or real acting experience. The role obviously went to Johnny Depp, the biggest star in the world at the time.”
Dwayne Johnson provided this interesting background information because he showed his children ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ from 1971. At the time, it starred Gene Wilder, who delivered a thoroughly iconic performance as Willy Wonka. The star of “The Fast And The Furious” considers the first film adaptation of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” one of his absolute favorite films.
Of course, Dwayne Johnson had no chance of competing with Johnny Depp’s star power in the early 2000s. Moreover, the actor and Tim Burton were already an overly well-rehearsed team. Nevertheless, it would have been more than interesting to see what Johnson would have thought of Willy Wonka in his early years in Hollywood – physically, the character would have appeared with a completely different intensity. And who knows how Johnson’s career might have developed if his introduction as an eccentric chocolatier had been well received.