First Wonka trailer shows off Hugh Grant's dancing Oompa Loompa
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Hugh Grant continues to be having the best time onscreen. Adding to the growing list of characters in which the British actor is just simply doing his thing (Paddington 2, Glass Onion, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) comes Wonka, the first trailer for which arrived Tuesday with a look at Grant's Oompa Loompa.
The casting was first announced during CinemaCon in Las Vegas earlier this year, and Grant's bright orange face surfaces at the end of the film's trailer. Timothée Chalamet's Willy Wonka, a younger version of the beloved chocolatier from Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has the Oompa Loompa trapped in a glass case. With visual effects, Grant brings this pint-sized helper to life.
"I will have you know that I am a perfectly respectable size for an Oompa Loompa," he says before whipping out his piccolo to signal a classic Oompa Loompa tune. "Too late. I've started dancing now," he adds. "Once we've started, we can't stop."
Jaap Buittendijk/Warner Bros. Timothée Chalamet's Willy Wonka and Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa in 'Wonka'
Wonka director Paul King tells EW exclusively that casting Grant as such a character was "bizarrely straightforward."
"I was just reading the book [Charlie and the Chocolate Factory], and the Oompa Loompas have these incredible long songs," he says. "They're really funny, but they're biting and sarcastic and judgmental. The Oompa Loompas are able to take gleeful delight in the demise of children who are touring the chocolate factory. When I thought about their voice [separate] from the song and how these characters might speak, what their attitude was, it seemed this very sort of withering, sarcastic, scornful, quite pleased with themselves… It sounds terrible, but Hugh's voice just popped into my head."
He continues, "I thought it was a stretch, but I sent him a very short email, and amazingly he came along and did it. He's such a genius. He took to it like a duck to water. It's obviously a long, involved performance process to turn Hugh Grant into an 18-inch-high character, but he did everything and he was brilliant. He was on set with Timothée Chalamet. They were able to play together and improvise together, and I think they've got a brilliant relationship through the movie. It's very clear who's the boss, and it's not Willy."
Jaap Buittendijk/Warner Bros. Timothée Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka in 'Wonka'
Wonka, which includes multiple musical numbers, will serve as an origin story to the Willy Wonka character. King told EW that he sees it as "a companion piece" to 1971's Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, which starred Gene Wilder. "I've spent the past seven years traveling the world, perfecting my craft," Chalamet's Willy says in the Wonka trailer. "You see, I'm something of a magician, inventor, and chocolate maker. So quiet up and listen down... Nope. Scratch that, reverse it."
The footage sees Willy trying to set up his own chocolate shop amid the Galerie Gourmet, but his rivals in the business, the so-called "Chocolate Cartel," are hellbent on squashing the competition — or, as one scene suggests, drowning them in melted chocolate. Those familiar with the world Dahl created will recognize figures like Mr. Fickelgruber, Mr. Prodnose, and Mr. Slugworth.
Jaap Buittendijk/Warner Bros. Calah Lane stars opposite Timothée Chalamet as Noodle in 'Wonka'
Calah Lane also appears as a character named Noodle, who appears to be Willy's right-hand helper in the film, while Sally Hawkins appears to be playing Willy's mother. "Every good thing in this world started with a dream. So you hold onto yours," Hawkins says.
The cast of Wonka also includes Olivia Colman in an undisclosed villainous role, Keegan-Michael Key as the chief of police, and Rowan Atkinson as a priest. Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, and Paterson Joseph round out the ensemble as rival chocolatiers.
The film will release in theaters this Dec. 15. Watch the trailer above.
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