WONKA Director Explains He Cast Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa Because "He's the Funniest, Most Sarcastic Sh*t"
Hugh Grant takes on the role of an Oompa Loompa in the upcoming Willy Wonka origin film, Wonka. It’s certainly an interesting choice, and it is really weird seeing Grant as a little orange man with green hair, but there’s a reason was director Paul King cast him in the role. In fact, Grant was his first choice to play an Oompa Loompa, and believes that it’s perfect casting.
Roald Dahl originally described the Oompa Loompa as little creatures that were "no higher than my knee" with golden hair. Director Mel Stuart changed up the character design for his original movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. That’s where the orange skin and green hair came into play and that style was incorporated into the upcoming film. But, when it came to the voice and personalities of the Oompa Loompa, King went back to the source material, He explained to Total Film:
"I was enchanted by the idea of these impossibly tiny beings, far smaller even than the child-sized me. The voice and the attitude of the Oompa Loompa came from revisiting the books – long songs full of humour, sarcasm, superiority and scorn. So it was really just thinking about that character – someone who can be a real shit. And I went, 'Ah, Hugh [Grant]!' Because he's the funniest, most sarcastic shit that I've ever met! We'd been there before with Paddington 2. I had to write him this awkward letter, saying, 'You're good at playing washed-up, old hams…'"
Grant ended up jumping on board to play the character. It’s explained that the character was recreated digitally, but Grant was physically on set for all his scenes so that he and Timothée Chalamet. could work together and “find an organic rhythm to their banter.”
King added, "Once you see Hugh Grant as an 18-inch high orange man with green hair. you go, 'Ah, yes. I know what Oompa Loompas are. It all makes perfect sense.'"
At the same time, there are actors with dwarfism who are upset with the casting. George Coppen, a British actor who appeared in Willow, Artemis Fowl, and played Sweet Cupid in Netflix’s The School for Good and Evil, expressed his feelings about Grant being cast in the role:
“A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love. A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren’t getting offered those roles. One door is being closed but they have forgotten to open the next one.”
Regardless of what he thinks, King seems very happy with the casting of Grant in the role.
Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.”
The movie is described as a “intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor.” This “irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.”
The movie also stars Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Keegan-Michael Key (Schmigadoon), Paterson Joseph (Vigil), Matt Lucas (Paddington), Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story), Rakhee Thakrar (Four Weddings and a Funeral), Tom Davis (Paddington 2) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Paddington 2).
Wonka will hit theaters on December 15th.