Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa draws backlash from actor with dwarfism: We're being 'pushed out'
Hugh Grant's appearance in the upcoming "Wonka" movie is drawing criticism.
George Coppen, a British actor with dwarfism, is taking issue with the upcoming film for casting Grant as an Oompa Loompa instead of an actor of short stature.
"A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love," Coppen told the BBC this week. "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," the 26-year-old "Willow" star said, also disapproving of how the "Love, Actually" star's head is enlarged in the film.
Read more: Netflix buys Willy Wonka author Roald Dahl's catalog
Representatives for Grantdid not immediately respond Friday to The Times' requests for comment. Warner Bros. declined to comment Friday on the film's casting decision, and it is unclear whether other Oompa Loompas appear in the latest big-screen adaptation of the Roald Dahl story.
"Wonka," directed and co-written by Paul King, is due in theaters Dec. 15. Grant's portrayal of the storybook character was first seen in April, when the movie's trailer premiered at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. At the time, King said Grant's orange CGI character is "no taller than knee-high" in the film. At the same event, "Wonka" star Timothée Chalamet, who plays the titular chocolatier, praised his co-star.
"Working with Hugh to begin with, what a dream come true," Chalamet said onstage, according to Entertainment Weekly. "Also, as you guys saw, there's [actors] Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Keegan-Michael Key. It's just a dream as an American actor to be working with this dream of British actors, but that's the first time people saw Hugh as an Oompa Loompa, right? It was a trip .... And obviously, Hugh and Paul King have an extraordinary collaborative relationship. And Hugh Grant's one of our greats, so it was a dream."
Read more: Timothée Chalamet didn't audition for 'Wonka.' The director saw his YouTube videos
Coppen's latest remarks follow his critical take on social media two weeks ago, when Warner Bros. publicly released the trailer for the prequel of sorts to Dahl’s "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Grant appears in the trailer's final moments as "the funny little man" following Wonka and asserts that he is "a perfectly respectable size for an Oompa Loompa."
"So I was watching the new Wonka trailer and I thought it looked pretty good until the very end where Hugh Grant appears as an oompa loompa," Coppen wrote on Instagram, adding, "Why? In the previous two films all the oompa loompas have been played by dwarves but this time round they have decided to take work away from us."
"Now I don't know if A. Hugh is the only one in the film B. If there's more who are playing them," he continued. "Now some people will say that roles like this are demeaning and we should be playing more 'normal' roles which is completely true but we aren't getting offered those roles so they have kind of shut one door for us without opening the other one. So we are stuck in the middle unable to do anything."
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Coppen also agreed with Emmy winner Peter Dinklage's past remarks about actors with dwarfism pushing back on similar roles, but, he added, the "Game of Thrones" star does not speak for all of them.
"Unlike most of us he's in a position where he can afford to turn down work," Coppen explained. "People forget that we do get a say in the work we do, before being put forward for any job I get asked if I want to do it and I've been offered jobs in the past that I'm not a fan of so said no but at least give us that option instead of just shutting us out.
"This isn't a post saying I'm not happy so I won't see it but a lot of people wouldn't realise what something like this means to people like me," he wrote.
Read more: After Peter Dinklage calls 'Snow White' plot 'backward,' Disney pledges new approach
Meanwhile, Disney has faced similar issues for taking "a different approach" in its live-action remake of "Snow White," using "magical creatures" instead of seven dwarfs in the Rachel Zegler-starring film.
"Snow White," which has been both championed and trashed for casting Zegler in the lead role, previously elicited the ire of Dinklage last year when he said that Disney's progressive casting contradicts the fact that it's "still making that f— backward story about seven dwarfs."
In response, the studio pledged to "avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film" and has been consulting with members of the dwarfism community for the reimagining. In a set photo and video leaked online earlier this month, at least one magical creature appears to be a short-statured actor, but the others are diverse actors of varying sizes, races and genders. Disney initially called the behind-the-scenes image fake, then backpedaled and said that it featured stand-ins for Zegler and her co-star, Andrew Burnap, who plays a "reluctant hero" rather than a full-on prince in the film.
The "West Side Story" star has repeatedly addressed the debate around her casting, but has not yet discussed the drama surrounding her co-stars.
"extremely appreciative of the love i feel from those defending me online, but please don’t tag me in the nonsensical discourse about my casting," the 22-year-old tweeted earlier this month when the set photo emerged. "i really, truly do not want to see it. ... i hope every child knows they can be a princess no matter what."
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
