Hugh Grant is way too tall? Dwarf actor George Coppen, best known for starring in Willow, doesn’t understand this casting for Wonka. Scheduled for December, the feature film by Paul King (director of the first two parts of Paddington) will tell the story of Willy Wonka’s youth, his quest for adventure and gluttony. The first trailer, released in early July, ends with a dialogue scene between Willy (played by Timothée Chalamet) and an Oompa-loompa locked in a glass bell. Small problem, the character with orange skin, supposed to be less than one meter fifty (according to the work of Roald Dahl) is played by Hugh Grant, actor of one meter eighty.
This transgression did not please comedian George Coppen at all. According to him, the role should have been entrusted to a person affected, like him, by dwarfism. “A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in movies and shows, but we’re not being offered them,” he told the BBC. . “Many actors with dwarfism therefore feel like they’re being pushed out of the industry they love.”
In the original novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl (1964), the Oompa-loompa were depicted as black African Pygmies. This representation had brought many critics denouncing a slavery connotation. A new version from 1973 depicted them with fair skin.
As for the 1971 film adaptation, installing Gene Wilder as a chocolatier, the Oompa-Loompas were played by actors with dwarfism. Tim Burton had also made the same choice for his 2005 version. Small subtlety, all the little creatures were played by the only actor Deep Roy (1.32 meters). Interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, Paul King justified his choice to install Hugh Grant in this role of Oompa-lumpa by explaining that it was “the funniest and most sarcastic person that [he has] never met”.
