Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant at the Tokyo premiere ofWonkaon Nov, 21, 2023.Photo:Warner Bros. Japan
Warner Bros. Japan
Timothée Chalametisn’t letting costarHugh Grantlive his latest role down!
AtWonka’s Tokyo premiere on Tuesday, Chalamet — who plays the title character in the film, which serves as a prequel toRoald Dahl’s 1964 children’s bookCharlie and the Chocolate Factory— poked a bit of fun at Grant, who appears as an Oompa Loompa.
But Chalamet’s short performance was all in good fun, as it came directly after both actors praised one another for their respective turns in thePaul King-directed film.
“He’s very good in it,” Grant said, pointing at Chalamet, who shared the same sentiment about the 63-year-old actor. “He’svery good in it!” he responded.
Earlier this year, King (Paddington) chatted with PEOPLE about bringing Grant’s orange-skinned, green-haired character to life.
“I wish I could say he spent six months drinking nothing but carrot juice and sitting in a tanning bed four hours a day,” joked the director, 45. “There was a little bit of digital help, but it ended up being really great.”
King also said he finds the “Oompa Loompa” song “one of the funniest parts of the book, because they’re so acerbic and biting and sarcastic, and they really take gleeful delight in the demise of these ghastlychildren who are touring the chocolate factory.”
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“It’s really got that sense of mischief and naughtiness, and Hugh just embodies that so well,” he continued. “And when I was just thinking whose voice sounds like that, it was him, and luckily somebody I’d worked with before [in 2018’sPaddington 2].”
“I now have a track record with Hugh of asking to perform these incredibly embarrassing characters,” King quipped. “But he does it with such bravado and humor, and it’s just so funny to see him 18 inches high and completely full of himself and arrogant.”
Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant inWonka(2023).Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
In atrailer for the upcoming fantasy film, Wonka notes that Oompa Loompa, who is shouting to be let out of a glass case, is “the funny little man who’s been following me.”
“How dare you! I will have you know that I am a perfectly respectable size for an Oompa Loompa,” Grant’s character shoots back, before starting to perform an “Oompa Loompa” dance.
Back in April, Chalamet told an audience atCinemaCon 2023in Las Vegas that experiencing Grant’s turn as the iconic candy factor charactersin the movie “was a trip.““Hugh is one of our greats … it was a dream to work with him,” Chalamet said.
Wonkadebuts in theaters Dec. 15.
source: people.com
