Original Willy Wonka Actor Gene Wilder Once Gave His Honest Opinion on Johnny Depp's Portrayal, and It Isn't Good

The great Gene Wilder made his mark as a legendary comedic actor in movies like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, and especially the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory based on the book by Roald Dahl. He portrayed Willy Wonka in such an iconic way that he has forever been tied to the role, thus making fans unsure of what exactly the 2005 remake was looking to accomplish.

The new movie, directed by Tim Burton and starring Freddie Highmore as Charlie and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, did go in a different direction, focusing a lot on the background story of Willy Wonka, and changing things up along the way. So I think most of us enjoyed it for what it was, but I don’t think the remake kept up the same fanbase the original did. The movie kind of faded away, and I never heard of Wilder making a comment on his opinion, but apparently he did make his feelings known a few years later.

In a 2013 interview with The 92nd Street Y, New York (via Cheat Sheet), Wilder was asked his thoughts on the film, and he replied:

“I think it’s an insult. To do that with Johnny Depp, who I think is a good actor and I like him, but I don’t care for that director. He’s a talented man, but I don’t care for him for doing stuff like he did.”

So Wilder wasn’t a huge Tim Burton fan. He certainly does have a style that viewers have come to be familiar with. And just like the style of the film is so different from the original, Depp and Wilder’s Wonkas were also such different characters.

Wilder sadly passed away just a few years after that interview. I wonder how Timothy Chalamet’s young Willy Wonka portrayal in the film Wonka will turn out next year, and what Wilder would have thought about it.