The virtual press conference for Wonka took place the day after its London premiere, but any questions had to be submitted before the screening and those approved were read to the cast by host Edith Bowman. With the film opening to rave reviews, these precautions don’t seem entirely comprehensible and if anything, ensure that attending journalists feel like they are tuning in to a pre-recorded programme.
In true British manner, the conversation starts a little tongue-in-cheek, as director Paul King is asked about “the essence of [his] Willy that [he] wanted to put on screen” and responds that it is a very hard question to answer in this country. A little more seriously, he specifies that it is the character’s optimism: “Because this is a Roald Dahl universe movie, I suppose, the world is not the kind of gracious, warm, welcoming face that we might hope it is. But Willy Wonka won’t take no for an answer and sets out to change things just as they should be.”
Writer Simon Farnaby shares about his collaborative process with King that they try to work individually and Zoom to “keep out of each other’s houses” but that they are simply better together, in the same room, making each other laugh and getting a sense of the required emotions. Asked whether he always deliberately writes in a part for himself (after appearing in both Paddington films, he now reprises a similar role in Wonka), he replies, “I don’t think enough has been said about the loneliness of security guards. I just want to put it out there, you know, while you’re all sleeping, they’re working hard. I don’t actually intend to put myself in the droves.” “It’s normally me,” King chimes in. Farnaby clarifies that “usually we go ‘someone’s gonna break into somewhere and someone’s gonna be in the way.’ And then Paul looks at me and I go ‘Okay. I’ll do Barry again.’ ”
Young talent Calah Lane, who plays the orphaned Noodle in the film, recounts shooting a scene in a chocolate tank. “The first time we filmed it was like lotion or something. But the second time we found that it was actually chocolate.” Asked whether she could still eat it after the experience, she affirms that she still likes chocolate, since she didn’t actually eat the chocolate she was submerged in.
Olivia Colman co-stars as one of Wonka’s antagonists Mrs Scrubbit. “It’s really fun playing a baddie. I wanted to work with Paul: I love the Paddingtons and I’m a big fan of Timmy’s. So I knew it would be a really fun thing to do. And it was. I literally enjoyed every day and yet… awful,” she jokes, then elaborates that “Paul is very collaborative and shouts out, ‘Do something’, so we’re doing silly things, thinking ‘This is never going to make the film.’ Actually, some of them do. I don’t think I’m terribly good at making stuff up, but with Paul shouting things out, it helped.”
The writing team reveals that the toilet jokes in the finished film all came from Colman.
Meanwhile, Hugh Grant calls the process of shooting with Motion capture for his Oompa Loompa miserable and awful. “You wear a kind of crown of thorns that is very, very uncomfortable. I made a big fuss about it,” he admits, while King compares the device to a bicycle helmet. Grant goes on, “Incomprehensible process. They put this thing on, you’re miked up, you got straps around you, there’s 16 different cameras, I didn’t know where I was, what was happening. I did my best. And then two months later, ‘Can you come and do it again?’ And two months later, ‘can you come and do it again?’ And this went on for two years. I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.”
Bowman enquires whether he had the props his character toys with on set with him and Grant expands, “That’s what I mean! It was so confusing. I understand you got 17 cameras on my face. But am I supposed to be acting with my body or not? I never got a satisfactory answer. And frankly, what I did with my body was terrible and has all been replaced by an animator entirely.”
Keegan-Michael Key plays a police officer who is particularly partial to chocolate. He reveals that there was a chocolatier working with them on set: “All of the chocolates are kind of bespoke. Handmade. They were absolutely beautiful. I ate quite a bit of chocolate. I feel almost as much as the chief of police ate, because it’s just take after take after take and you’re just like, ‘Can we do one more take? Are you sure we have it, Paul?’ Just for the record, I did not eat any wrappers.”
The consumption of the chocolate has a visible effect on his character and Key explains that there were four phases of fluctuating weight. “We had to shoot out of sequence. Otherwise, I just would have done it myself, I just would have gained the weight.”
Wonka himself remains rather quiet during the exchange, Timothée Chalamet speaks only when directly addressed. Asked whether he based his performance on previous interpretations he delicately minces words, “That’s a great question. Talking about Pure Imagination, this is really like the companion piece to the Gene Wilder film, and sort of the idea of who he would have been as a young Willy Wonka. And Paul can speak to that better than I can. But otherwise, you know, when characters are so beloved, people are very protective of them. And Hugh speaks to this very well: just people are immediately sceptical, rightfully, but when the story and the script and conceit is as clever as what Simon and Paul came up with, the story feels warranted.”
Talking about the process of working with Chalamet, King describes him as a controlled actor, wise about how he comes across on screen and able to watch takes back in order to tweak the performance. Chalamet praises King’s generosity and that “takes don’t feel necessarily precious,” allowing for experimentation.
Whether there would be more collaboration between King and Grant, the latter shares that while it would be lovely, [King] “loves making films, I slightly hate it.”
Selina Sondermann
Wonka is released nationwide on 8th December 2023. Read our review here.
Watch the trailer for Wonka here: