Hugh Grant Says He Hated Playing an Oompa-Loompa in WONKA

Hugh Grant doesn’t hold back from sharing how much he hated playing an Oompa-Loompa in the upcoming Wonka movie. In fact, he compared the experience to wearing a “crown of thorns.” During a recent press conference, the actor said:

“It was like a crown of thorns. I made a big fuss about it, I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.”

Grant went on to explain that he wasn’t really sure if he was supposed to act with his entire body or just his face when playing the character. He said:

“I never received a satisfactory answer. And frankly, what I did with my body was terrible, and it’s all been replaced with an animator.”

So, Grant didn’t have the best experience making this movie, but director Paul King wanted him in the role, and previously talked about casting Grant in the role, saying:

“I was enchanted by the idea of these impossibly tiny beings, far smaller even than the child-sized me. The voice and the attitude of the Oompa Loompa came from revisiting the books – long songs full of humor, sarcasm, superiority and scorn. So it was really just thinking about that character – someone who can be a real shit. And I went, ‘Ah, Hugh [Grant]!’ Because he’s the funniest, most sarcastic shit that I’ve ever met!”

The film is based on “the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.”

The movie is described as an “intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor.” This “irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.”