Pictured: Johnny Depp
CHARACTER · CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
Willy Wonka
- Appears in
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- Played by
- Johnny Depp
12 archived facts 4 topics
Willy Wonka is a character in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), played by Johnny Depp.
12 Interesting Facts About Willy Wonka
Interesting Facts (4)
- #001
Having read the script, Gene Wilder agreed to play Willy Wonka on a single condition: that he could limp and then suddenly somersault in the scene where Wonka first meets the children. Director Mel Stuart asked why, and Wilder answered that it would mean "from that time on, no one will know if I'm lying or telling the truth." Stuart asked, "If I say no, you won't do the picture?" Wilder said, "I'm afraid that's the truth."
- #002
Mel Stuart's book "Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" explains why everything in Willy's office is sliced in half: Stuart could not face ending the movie in an ordinary office after all the whimsical, inventive rooms of the factory. Cutting the room in half made it look more Wonka-esque.
- #003
Despite the popular belief, Fred Astaire was never considered for Willy Wonka. Mel Stuart's book "Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka" states that Astaire expressed interest in playing the eccentric chocolatier, but neither Stuart nor David L. Wolper was told of it. It made little difference, since Stuart writes that he never pictured Wonka as a 72-year-old man, which was Astaire's age at the time.
- #004
Behind the Scenes (2)
- #005
During "Pure Imagination," Willy Wonka swings his cane around at several points to halt the group in place. In the DVD commentary, at around 53m, Paris Themmen, who played Mike Teevee, said that on one take Gene Wilder accidentally whacked him with the cane as he swung it. Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt, wrote in her memoir "I Want it Now!" that the cane also struck her by accident several times.
- #006
Contains a major spoiler — show
When rehearsing the scene where Willy Wonka berates Grandpa Joe and Charlie for stealing fizzy lifting drinks, Gene Wilder held back and played more disappointed than angry. That way, when he shouted at them during filming, the shock on the faces of Jack Albertson and Peter Ostrum would be real.
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #007
Each Oompa Loompa song is styled after a different musical era, and Willy Wonka's remark after each one is a phrase from that era. Augustus Gloop gets a Broadway musical ("Bravo! Well done. Aren't they delightful? Aren't they charming?", clapping and praising as audiences do after a show); Violet Beauregarde, disco ("Come on, let's boogie!"); Veruca Salt, psychedelic ("Well, let's keep on truckin'."); and Mike Teevee, rock ("On with the tour!", a nod to the many rock concert tours).
- #008
Life & Family (3)
- #009
- #010
In early 2001, Wilder was grocery shopping at a supermarket near his home in Stamford, Connecticut, when a mother came up and asked whether she could tell her kids who he was. Gene said, "Yes, if you promise not to say it loud". She whispered to her children, "That's Willy Wonka!", then turned to Wilder and said, "What a legacy!".
- #011
Contains a major spoiler — show
Lofty the Oompa-Loompa delivers several of Wonka's signature lines from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971), among them "Good day sir... I said good day!" and "So shines a good deed in a weary world," spoken as Wonka watches Noodle reunite with her mother.
