With ‘Wonka’, the prequel to Roald Dahl’s cult children’s novel ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ will hit German cinemas tomorrow, December 7, 2023, in which Timothée Chalamet plays the young chocolatier Willy Wonka at the start of his career and in Paris at one of the meetings with the legendary Oompa Loompas. Said Oompa Loompa embodies the British acting legend Hugh Grantwho appears to young Wonka at key moments of his adventure with green hair and shrunk to miniature size.
For Hugh Grant, the experience of creating the magical creature using motion capture technology was amazing Paul Kings Playing a fantasy adaptation is anything but pleasant. The actor revealed at a press conference that he was particularly bothered by his suit, which was covered with small cameras: “It was like a crown of thorns, very uncomfortable.”
For Hugh Grant, the end result of “Wonka” wasn’t worth the unpleasant filming process
Grant even went so far as to say he “hated” the process: “I was really angry about it. I couldn’t have hated it more.” The actor is said to have waited in vain for precise and ‘satisfactory’ instructions on how to handle his body. Ultimately, he found his own physical game “terrible” as it was replaced by animation.
When asked if the end result of ‘Wonka’ was worth the unpleasant experience in the end, the British actor stated loudly :”Not really.” Grant later apologized for this statement, jokingly clarifying that he simply wasn’t into filmmaking in general: “I hate making movies, but I have a lot of kids and I need the money.”
He also learned some good things from his experience with “Wonka”. So for Grant, it was definitely “fun to joke around and try out new lines.” Director and screenwriter Paul King based his decision to cast Grant in the iconic role on his own reading experience with the book: He could almost have seen and heard the actor with his sarcastic and grumpy voice while reading Dahl’s novel.
While Grant can be seen in cinemas as Oompa Loompa from tomorrow, many international critics and FILMSTARTS author Sidney Schering consider his performance to be one of the absolute highlights of fantasy film.