Entertainment

Is Timothée Chalamet the best Willy Wonka?

By ModMod | #!31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:000331#31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:00-12Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331 01pm31pm-31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:0012Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam2023312023Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +02004512458pmTuesday=9#!31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam8#08-01-2023#!31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:000331#/31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:00-12Europe/Amsterdam3131Europe/Amsterdam202331#!31Tue, 01 Aug 2023 12:45:03 +0200+02:00Europe/Amsterdam8#

In the new Warner Bros. film Wonka, Timothée Chalamet takes viewers into the world of the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka, based on the story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The fantasy film follows the adventures of a young Willy Wonka, including how he met the Oompa-Loompas and started his chocolate factory.

In the first trailer, which was released earlier this week, we get a first look at Chalamet as Wonka and Hugh Grant as an Oompa-Loompa. However, the trailer is not received without criticism: is the young actor skilled enough to take on the major role of Willy Wonka? One of his first lines — ‘Quiet up, and listen down. Nope, scratch that. Reverse!’ — sounds as if he is reading it straight from the script.

Wonka is directed by Paul King, known for Paddington, and written by King and Simon Farnaby. Besides Chalamet and Grant, the cast includes Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, Matt Lucas, Natasha Rothwell, Tom Davis, Mathew Baynton, and Simon Farnaby.

Chalamet has a big role to fill, previously played by Johnny Depp (in 2005) and Gene Wilder (in 1971). Although the story in Wonka does not exactly match the earlier adaptations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, there are similarities. For instance, there is a golden ticket, there is no shortage of chocolate, and we meet the Oompa-Loompas.

Especially one Oompa-Loompa stands out, namely a green-orange Hugh Grant playing the flute. According to director King, Hugh Grant is the perfect Oompa-Loompa, as he explains in Empire : “Looking back at the book, and reading all those poems and hearing the voice of the Oompa-Loompas as a very cynical, sarcastic, cruel, funny but mischievous voice, I thought: ‘Oh… That sounds a bit like Hugh!’”

Our verdict: Hugh Grant is at least the best Oompa-Loompa so far. The verdict on who the best Willy Wonka is can only be made in December, when Wonka premieres in theaters.

Wonka will be released on December 13 in Dutch cinemas.