From brocade blazers to sequined harnesses, Timothée Chalamet has never met a bold fashion statement he couldn’t make work. Which might have given him a leg up on the competition when it came to landing the role of Willy Wonka in Wonka, an upcoming origin story focused on the eccentric candymaker’s early days. Wonka—who has shown a penchant for purple velvet blazers, brown top hats, and spontaneous summersaults in previous iterations of the character played by Gene Wilder in 1971 and Johnny Depp in 2005—has as distinctive a personal style as Chalamet does.
While the only real details known about the movie are that it will focus on Wonka in his younger days, Deadline reports that it will be the first Willy Wonka film not to feature Charlie Bucket. It will also reportedly allow the 25-year-old Oscar nominee to show off his musical chops and bust out his dancing skills, as the film—which is being directed by Paul King, who has earned three BAFTA nominations for his work on Paddington (2014) and world’s-greatest-movie Paddington 2 (2017)—will feature a handful of song-and-dance numbers.
While Chalamet, who will next be seen in Dune, might be one of the most in-demand actors working today, he wasn’t the only person in consideration to play the inventor of the Everlasting Gobstopper. Back in 2018, Ryan Gosling, Donald Glover, and Ezra Miller were all reportedly contenders for the part, while several outlets are claiming that the role ultimately came down to Chalamet versus Tom Holland. The more interesting choice has definitely triumphed.
(Via Deadline)
