Hugh Grant’s Casting as Oompa Loompa in ‘Wonka’ Slammed by Actor With Dwarfism: ‘We Are Being Pushed Out of the Industry We Love’
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Hugh Grant’s casting as an Oompa Loompa in “Wonka” has been criticized by an actor with dwarfism.
The film belongs to the universe created by British author Roald Dahl in 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” It is directed by Paul King (“Paddington”) and produced by Heyday Films, Village Roadshow Pictures and Warner Bros.
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George Coppen, a British actor with dwarfism, best known for playing Sweet Cupid in Netflix’s “The School for Good and Evil,” told the BBC: “A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love. A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren’t getting offered those roles. One door is being closed but they have forgotten to open the next one.”
Coppen has also had roles in “Willow” and “Artemis Fowl.”
“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” features the adventures of Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. Timothée Chalamet plays the title role in “Wonka,” which is an origin story where the younger version of the character meets Oompa Loompas.
In the “Wonka” trailer, Wonka meets Grant’s Oompa Loompa, who is in a glass jar, and says: “So you’re the funny little man who’s been following me?” The Oompa Loompa replies: “I will have you know that I am a perfectly respectful size for an Oompa-Loompa.” In the film, the Oompa Loompa played by Grant is 20 inches tall. The average height of an adult with dwarfism is 58 inches.
“They’ve enlarged his head so his head looks bigger. [I thought] what the hell have you done to him?,” Coppen told the BBC.
In previous adaptations of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” (1971) and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005), Oompa Loompas were played by actors with dwarfism.
Variety has reached out to Grant and King’s representatives for comment.
“Wonka” is due to release Dec. 15.
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