Hugh Grant plays the first-ever Oompa Loompa in Wonka

In a trailer screened at CinemaCon, Hugh Grant appears as the first Oompa to Timothée Chalamet's Wonka

Hugh Grant plays the first-ever Oompa Loompa in Wonka
Hugh Grant, presumably at a normal height Photo: Antonio Torres / Stringer

Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination… the kind where Hugh Grant can become an orange, knee-high Oompa Loompa. The A.V. Club was in the room where it happened on Tuesday, “the room” being CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada, and “it” being the exclusive trailer debut for Wonka. The upcoming Warner Bros. production, starring Timothee Chalamet as the titular character, is slated to premiere on December 15, and CinemaCon attendees got the first sweet taste of the fantastical origin story.

While fans were expecting the origin story of ol’ Willy himself—and photos from set gave us an idea of what he’ll look like—the bigger surprise was a first look at Grant as one of the iconic diminutive servants/assistants/problematically employed semi-humanoid creatures from Roald Dahl’s classic. Specifically, Grant plays the first Oompa Loompa that Wonka ever encounters. “That was a trip,” Chalamet said on stage in reference to working with his CGI’d co-star. “Working with Hugh is a dream come true,” the actor said, adding that Grant is “one of our greats, from Merchant Ivory Films to Notting Hill.”

Wonka reunites Grant with his Paddington 2 director Paul King, and marks the latest in a string of family-friendly films on the ’90s heartthrob’s recent resumé. He just recently came off an enjoyably eventful press tour for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. If we’re lucky, we’ll get a similar showing when Wonka press goes into full gear.

For now, we’ve only got the teaser from CinemaCon—not yet available online—which featured Chalamet as a proto-Gene Wilder traveling the world to find the perfect chocolate while mourning the loss of his mother. “Too much chocolate, and swimming in actual chocolate,” is how the star described the experience. “That’s one of the more bizarre experiences I’ve had for sure.”

 
Join the discussion...