Hugh Grant did indeed perform the Oompa Loompa dance: 'No animator could dance that angrily'

The actor joins his "Wonka" cast mates and director Paul King for EW's "Around the Table" to discuss the film.

Despite all the CG animation that went into transforming Hugh Grant into the orange-skinned, green-haired, dapper Oompa Loompa from Wonka, the actor did indeed have to perform the Oompa Loompa dance on set of the musical prequel film to 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

"I did do it, yes," Grant tells his costars Timothée Chalamet, Keegan-Michael Key, and Calah Lane during EW's Around the Table with the actors of Wonka.

"No animator could dance that angrily," director Paul King playfully points out. "It's the angriest dancing in film history."

Chalamet stars as a younger Willy Wonka as he travels to the European-esque metropolitan setting of the Gallerie Gourmet, where he's hoping to make it big as a chocolate maker. He finds himself swindled into servitude by the scheming Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman) and Mr. Bleacher (Tom Davis), though he meets the likes of Noodle (Lane), a young girl in the same situation who becomes his right-hand candy maker. Key also stars as the chief of police, who's bribed with sweets by the trio known as the Chocolate Cartel into keeping Wonka from starting his business.

Grant's Oompa Loompa is a sneaky fellow who's hellbent on stealing back the chocolate Wonka took from Loompa Land once upon a time. He appears as this 18-inch-high figure in a purple blazer and pointed shoes, and comes equipped with a small flute to signal his dance sequences, which King confirms are a nod to the original film. It took a team of animators to transform the Notting Hill and Love Actually star into the character.

"The bit that's my face is frankly mediocre," Grant jokes with his typically dry sense of humor.

"It's essentially all you. You've been rebuilt. That is the great confusion," King chimes in. "I feel I need to answer this because you still have no idea how this is done," the filmmaker adds, volleying back a playful barb.

Grant describes the process as donning a helmet with various small cameras to record his facial performance. "There's this computer nerd sitting off to the side of the room," he continues to joke, making his costars laugh.

Watch the full installment of EW's Around the Table below. Wonka opens in theaters this Friday.

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