Casting Willy Wonka In Charlie & The Chocolate Factory’s Prequel Movie

With confirmation of a Willy Wonka prequel movie, we look at a few young actors who would be perfect as Roald Dahl’s eccentric chocolatier.

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Who could play the young Willy Wonka in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Wonka prequel movie? Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie & The Chocolate Factory introduces an audacious manufacturer of confectionery by the name of Willy Wonka. He mixes chocolate by waterfall, recruits a mysterious, exotic tribe as his workforce (that’s probably illegal), and puts children in mortal danger by tempting them with their greatest weaknesses (that’s definitely illegal). Nevertheless, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory remains a timeless work of fiction where four awful youngsters and the wholesome Charlie Bucket win a tour around Willy Wonka’s wondrous factory, and are forever altered by the experience – one way or another.

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory is Dahl at his imaginatively twisted best, and Willy Wonka provides the rich, sugary caramel at the center of the story, fascinating generation after generation. Wonka made his big screen debut in 1971’s Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, memorably played by Gene Wilder. A 2005 remake saw Tim Burton cast Johnny Depp (who else?) in the iconic role, and while the latter stayed closer to Dahl’s book, both films have merit. Warner Bros. has now announced a new movie delving into the past of the weird and wonderful Wonka, with Paddington’s Paul King directing.

Willy Wonka is a charismatic and charming individual, hiding a glowing warmth under layers of paranoia and misunderstood genius. Alien in his social interactions, but omniscient inside his precious factory, Wonka is a deeply complex figure who blends a long-held desire to be loved with a mischievous side that borders on taking things too far. Wonka looks set to explore the chocolatier’s early years in the business – establishing his brand and seeing off sneaky competitors. With so many characteristics to cover, however who could play him?

Timothée Chalamet

Alongside the official Wonka announcement came a pair of names currently reported as “under consideration” – Timothée Chalamet and Tom Holland. Of this talented pair, it’s perhaps easier to envisage Chalamet under that famous purple top hat, conjuring up his next curious confection invention. At 25 years of age, Chalamet sits perfectly between the fully-formed Wonka that meets Charlie Bucket after years avoiding the public eye, and the young Wonka who lived in fear of his dentist father in Tim Burton’s 2005 reinvention. Already nominated for a raft of major acting awards during his short career so far, Chalamet has the same kind of roguish intensity that defined Johnny Depp’s early career – a vital component in portraying Wonka’s dark troublemaker moments. It’s not a huge stretch to imagine Chalamet gleefully leading a group of tourists on the boat ride from hell.

Playing characters such as Elio in Call Me By Your Name and Laurie in Little Women, Chalamet’s performances display the kind of endearing uncertainty and awkwardness that Willy Wonka thrives on, but there’s also the irreverence and lightness of touch one needs when skipping through a chocolate factory with an Oompa Loompa at either side. Timothée Chalamet is a growing talent in Hollywood, but hasn’t yet become a household name within the mainstream. Dune could potentially change that, but so too could playing the world’s most insane chocolatier. It’s certainly easy to see why Warner Bros. are eyeing him for the part.

Ben Whishaw

No stranger to bringing beloved literary creations to life on the big screen, Ben Whishaw is best known for playing Q to Daniel Craig’s 007 in the current run of James Bond movies. He might not be easy to spot under all the fur, but Whishaw also provides the voice of Paddington Bear in the 2014 Paddington film and its excellent 2017 sequel. With director Paul King and producer David Heyman creating a link between the marmalade-loving Peruvian and Roald Dahl’s John Cadbury on crack, Ben Whishaw presents a familiar option for Wonka’s creative team.

Set years before Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, the upcoming Wonka prequel will star a very different version of the character compared to Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp’s respective iterations. The young Wonka will surely be less confident, less affected by global success, and determined to prove himself against dastardly competitors like Slugworth and Fickelgruber. Ben Whishaw traditionally plays characters who lack self-assurance, but more than make up for their unassuming demeanor with a steely inner determination – a combination that would suit a Willy Wonka who hasn’t yet reached the summit of the chocolate game. At 40-years-old, Whishaw isn’t exactly a young up-and-comer, but since most viewers would assume he was younger, the actor could easily get away with playing a mid-twenties Wonka.

Asa Butterfield

Despite being a mere 23 years of age, Asa Butterfield has enjoyed a surprisingly long and varied career, making more movie and TV appearances than you might think. As a child actor in Hugo and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Butterfield shows an otherworldly, magical quality that hasn’t faded with the coming of adulthood. This ethereal presence is ideal for Willy Wonka, who Dahl would portray as a mystical man quite detached from the rest of reality. Butterfield’s performance in X&Y is a strong portrayal of misunderstood genius, and this will be a vital component of any Willy Wonka prequel story, as the fledgling sweet-maker strives to bring his designs for Everlasting Gobstoppers and Lickable Wallpaper to life for the very first time.

Asa Butterfield will be most familiar to a modern audience as Otis in Netflix’s Sex Education – a character who could easily be mistaken for a teenage Willy Wonka… if Wonka aspired to become a high school sex therapist instead of a chocolate-maker. Otis is one of his school’s misfits and comes across awkwardly in social situations (understandable since his mother is a renowned sexologist), but he’s also capable of some wicked, offbeat one-liners – a hallmark of the great Willy Wonka. The scene where Otis berates an old lady for being rude, only to be attacked with her walking stick is pure Wonka.

Dev Patel

Arguably the highest profile actor on this list, Dev Patel’s career began as part of the star-studded original Skins cast, which also included Nicholas Hoult, Joe Dempsie, Hannah Murray, Daniel Kaluuya and Kaya Scodelario. Although the landmark UK drama series was a breeding ground for Hollywood talent, Patel’s ascent to the acting big leagues has been particularly impressive, tasting Oscar recognition with a starring role in Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and as Saroo Brierley in Lion. But it’s Patel’s top billing in The Personal History of David Copperfield that perhaps demonstrates his suitability for a young Willy Wonka best. Based on the Charles Dickens character, Patel’s Copperfield overcomes a difficult childhood to achieve his dream of becoming an author in a heartfelt rags to riches tale. Copperfield’s journey from a dusty factory to hard-fought happiness and success is a close mirror of what Willy Wonka’s origin could be – navigating adversity to achieve a wild, long-held career goal.

Wonka obviously displays many more eccentricities than Copperfield, and this is something Patel will need to stir into his version of the chocolate baron if the time comes, perhaps calling back to the comedy of his Skins character for inspiration. Albeit without the numerous references to masturbation.

Freddie Highmore

Willy Wonka loves nothing more than to subvert expectations. From edible grass to three-course dinners secreted within chewing gum, the character is renowned for playing with his customers’ expectations and blowing their minds with out of the box ideas. In keeping with that spirit, Freddie Highmore (Charlie Bucket in the 2005 Charlie & The Chocolate Factory adaptation) could return to the world of Roald Dahl almost two decades later, this time as Charlie’s predecessor – the extravagant Willy Wonka. A mere boy when starring in Tim Burton’s film, Highmore is still only in his late 20s, and his uniquely conflicting roles as both Charlie and Wonka would be the movie equivalent of making wallpaper taste like fruit.

Even if Highmore hadn’t already walked the corridors of Willy Wonka’s famous factory, he’d likely still be in contention to play the lead in Wonka thanks to his past performances. Many of Highmore’s characters are quiet and unassuming, but with hidden qualities bubbling beneath the surface. In the case of Charlie Bucket, this deeper layer is a strength of will and morality, but in Bates Motel, it’s a burning to desire to murder people in the shower. Highmore even portrayed two starkly different twins in The Spiderwick Chronicles. It’s this duality of performance that makes Freddie Highmore such an attractive option for Willy Wonka, with the young actor capable of capturing the chocolate master’s kind and sinister sides with equal success.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/willy-wonka-prequel-movie-young-casting-prediction/