Wonka, the Willy Wonka origin film starring Timothée Chalamet, is on the way, and in a new interview with Vogue, the 27-year-old actor has revealed the sentimental reason behind why he accepted the titular role.
“To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy,” Chalamet explained. “That’s why I was drawn to it.”
This isn’t the first time Chalamet has mentioned cynicism in regards to the role — speaking at CinemaCon last month, the actor explained that his version of Wonka will be “a Willy that’s full of joy and optimism,” and has a “desire to become the greatest chocolatier,” as opposed to Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp’s portrayals, which both show Wonka at a later, more complicated point in his story.
But even beyond the context of previous Wonka-inspired films, Chalamet explained to Vogue that this role, and his optimism delivering it, created a welcome contrast with the outside world. “In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there’s so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate,” he said.
Wonka was directed by Paul King (Paddington and Paddington 2), and is set to hit theaters on December 15th. Before Chalamet officially landed the part, Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling, and Ezra Miller were all in contention for the titular role.
In the meantime, Chalamet is staying busy — in November, the second installment of the sci-fi epic series Dune is due to hit theaters. The actor will also be doing his own singing as Bob Dylan in an upcoming biopic following the iconic singer-songwriter’s rise.
