“Wonka director Paul King has been open about what inspired him to cast Timothée Chalamet as a young version of the quirky chocolatier: his YouTube videos from high school.
Any Chalamet fan knows that there are several videos online of the actor singing and dancing before he became famous, including a rap song dedicated to the art of statistics and an impassioned talent show performance of Nicki Minaj’s “Roman’s Revenge”.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in July, King admitted that watching the videos was all he needed to cast Chalamet. At the premiere of Wonka in London on Tuesday night, Chalamet agreed that the clips “kind of” helped him land the role – but that’s not the whole story.
When asked about the videos by Variety, Chalamet said: “I know, damn it… they kind of did, in Paul’s words.”
Laughing, he later added: “That wasn’t the only thing that got me the part. He liked the other films I did too!”
Meanwhile, King stood by his comments at the premiere, telling Variety: “This being the 21st century, his youth is very well documented on YouTube. I’m so glad I’m from a time when that wasn’t the case for me, otherwise I’d never be allowed to go out in public again. But maybe he just had the edge on me in the singing and acting department.
And while Chalamet shows off his singing and dancing chops in Wonka, there’s one thing he doesn’t share with the character: his undying love of chocolate.
When asked if he had a favourite chocolate bar, Chalamet said, “Honestly, no”.
“I’m more of a raisinets guy,” he continued. “I like chocolate, but I’m more of a chocolate-covered raisin, milk duds, you know… Those are the tough questions!”
Chalamet is the third actor to play the beloved Roald Dahl character from his 1964 children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Gene Wilder portrayed Wonka in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, followed by Depp’s darker take on the role in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Speaking of Wilder, Chalamet called “Wonka” a companion piece to the 1971 film and said he was “hugely” inspired by his take on the role.
“It’s kind of untouchable – it’s like a perfect performance, so this is the companion piece,” Chalamet said.
The forthcoming ‘Wonka’, which is due for release in the US on 15 December via Warner Bros, is a musical that tells the origin story of the Candyman. In addition to Chalamet, the film stars Hugh Grant, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis and Olivia Colman. King also co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby. Neil Hannon, lead singer of The Divine Comedy, wrote the original songs for the film.
