Timothée Chalamet has said that he didn’t reach out to Johnny Depp for advice before playing Wonka.
Depp starred as the eccentric chocolatier in 2005’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, which was directed by Tim Burton and served as the second film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s novel, following 1971’s musical Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, starring the late Gene Wilder.
- READ MORE: What is ‘Wonka’ about?
On Tuesday (November 28), at London premiere of Wonka, Chalamet was asked by E! News if he spoke to Depp about the role. And while he said he didn’t, the 27-year-old actor did offer some praise to Burton’s take on the story.
“[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory] came out when I was about 10 or 11 years old. And I just thought it was very bold,” said Chalamet, who previously dated Depp’s daughter, actress Lily-Rose Depp, for a year and a half before reportedly breaking up in April 2020.
Chalamet was also full of praise for Wilder’s movie, which he said he “loves” and “saw first, technically — that’s the one I grew up on.”
Created by Paul King, the filmmaker behind Paddington and Paddington 2, Wonka sees Chalamet cast as a younger version of the world-famous chocolatier and follows him as he tries to open his first shop.
The musical prequel has been well-recieved in intital reviews, with critics describing it “infinitely charming” and “intoxicating”.
Film writer Perri Nemiroff wrote: “Wonka is super charming delight powered by an exceptional & pitch-perfect performance from Timothée Chalamet. It can get quite silly and there’s a few plot points that are a tad on the thin side, but that couldn’t stop an impossibly sweet film with a hefty & very effective dose of sincerity”.
Film critic Courtney Howard agreed, describing Wonka as “a winning confection, filled with perfect amounts of charm, whimsy & poignancy, powered by pure imagination”.
Elsewhere, producer and journalist Simon Thompson said that although Wonka “doesn’t quite reach the charming and beguiling heights of the Paddington movies” the finished result “is still a delightfully sweet treat”.
The first trailer for Wonka arrived in July, however following its release, Grant’s casting as an Oompa-Loompa drew criticism from actor George Coppen, who said that “a lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love.”
Wonka opens in theatres across the UK on December 8, followed by a US release on December 15.