Hugh Grant Confirmed To Play an Oompa Loompa in WONKA
Warner Bros. debuted a new trailer for the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory prequel film, Wonka, during its big presentation at CinemaCon, and at the end of the trailer, there was a big hilarious reveal. Hugh Grant plays an Oompa Loompa in the movie! Seriously, an Oompa Loompa, and the character design is similar to the Oompa Loompas from Gene Wilder’s classic 1971 film, only smaller.
When we first see Grant’s character, he’s trapped under a little glass jar and he’s only about a foot and a half tall. He is having a conversation with Timothée Chalamet’s Willy Wonka, and he tells him that he’s "a perfectly respectable size.”
When young Willy says that he’s never heard of an Oompa Loompa before, Grant’s character offers to introduce himself through a “ruinously catchy” song that no one who hears it will ever be able to get out of their heads. He also does a little Oompa Loompa dance!
Grant’s casting was originally rumored by in 2022, but this obviously confirms it, and it’s so weird seeing him as this little orange person with green hair. But, audiences are probably going to love it! The image above is not from the movie, it’s a fan-made image, but’s it’s pretty close!
The rest of the footage is fun and zany, but Chalamet doesn’t really have the Wonka wackiness. I think he’s a talented young actor, but I’m still not sold on him as Willy Wonka. Regardless, the movie looks like it has heart, so it still could be a good movie. We’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, Hugh Grant is an Oompa Loompa! So, you can chew on that for awhile while we wait for a trailer to be released.
The new film is based on the classic characters created by Roald Dahl, and the story will focus on a young Willy Wonka and his adventures prior to opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory.
Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy is writing original songs for the prequel, and Paul King is directing from a screenplay he wrote with Paddington 2 co-writer Simon Farnaby. The movie also stars Mathew Baynton (Ghosts), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Tom Davis (Paddington 2), Simon Farnaby (the Paddington films), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Paddington 2), Paterson Joseph (Noughts + Crosses), Emmy and Peabody Award winner Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon!), Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Colin O’Brien (The Mothership), Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education), Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), and Ellie White (The Other One).
Wonka will be released on December 13th!