Yesterday, the internet went wild as the first trailer for Wonka hit. On one hand, such a Twitter frenzy was to be expected, because this upcoming feature film stars one of the most enduring of internet boyfriends, Timothée Chalamet — a gift to red carpets, memes, and general thirst (on top of being an Academy Award-nominated leading man). But amid the fervor for this Willy Wonka origin story, there was an undercurrent of grumbles that Chalamet had been miscast. And to that I say, no, you're wrong. He's just devotedly uncool here, and you can't deal.
Look, there are plenty of totally valid reasons to be wary of Wonka. Maybe you've seen a slew of origin stories that aimed to cash in on an established IP without bothering to be entertaining on their own, like Solo, Oz The Great and Powerful, or X: Men Origins: Wolverine. Maybe you have a moral objection to spending money on a Roald Dahl adaptation, considering the late author's documented antisemitism. Perhaps you feel this looks too much like a knockoff of Harry Potter, with its familiarly fantastical production design and floating British notables. Maybe you haven't seen the wonders of Paddington 2, and so you don't fully grasp the talents of director Paul King.
That’s all fair and valid. But I will not accept "Chalamet is wrong for this role."
Yes, yes. Wan and thin, Chalamet outside of costume looks more like Johnny Depp's 2005 Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory than Gene Wilder in 1971's Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory. And sure, The Bear's Jeremy Allen White looks more like Gene Wilder, from the distinctive nose and mournful blue eyes to the curly, light-colored hair. But first off, I'd argue that Chalamet in costume looks like a dizzying love child between these two previous Wonkas. And secondly, Chalamet is NAILING this tone.
Timothée Chalamet's Wonka line delivery is great, actually.
Some on Twitter are mocking his line delivery for its bounciness and earnestness. But he's a young dreamer who wants to take down a candy cartel and work with little orange men to make candies that literally lift you off your feet. What kind of energy do you expect such a character to carry? The intensity of Jeremy Allen White might have been subversively exhilarating in Wonka, but have you seen Bones and All? Probably not! You should have! It's great and weird, and Chalamet is intense as hell as a lovestruck cannibal in it. Here, he's taking an even bigger swing, and I respect it.
Chalamet has made his name with prestigious dramas, playing lovelorn heroes like Elio in Call Me By Your Name, Laurie in Little Women, and Lee in Bones and All. He brought a high-fashion smolder to Dune as brooding hero Paul Atreides. And now, in his most accessible role yet, he's embracing the whimsy and wackiness of Wonka, and it's cringe! IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE!
Chalamet has even taken the vibe to his Twitter with a tweet referencing Hugh Grant as the most dapper Oompa Loompa:
Tweet may have been deleted
Wonka dares to embrace the cringe.
Wonka is not a cool character. In Dahl's story and the previous movies, he's an eccentric recluse who carries on a national contest to lure children into his mysterious factory to find his heir. He dresses flamboyantly, has a mercurial temper, and doesn't have a single qualm about scaring the shit out of his young guests or even if they straight up die while touring his factory. He's not hip. He's mesmerizing in his chaos. And Chalamet gets it.
In the Wonka trailer, Chalamet leaves his ego behind. He sheds his beloved brooding, his sultry gaze. He wears a broad smile and a coat like Gonzo's in The Muppet Christmas Carol, and says with a sugary chipper tone, "So, quiet up and listen down — nope. Scratch that. Reverse it." He doesn't look embarrassed by his malapropism. He doesn't wince. He is above embarrassment. He has an accent that ranges from vaguely American to abruptly Southern as he says, "I'm makin' chocolate a'course!"
He bops his head back and forth like a cartoon character as he describes his ambition for "absolutely insane" chocolate. And that's all before the trailer introduces the dastardly foes to his ambition, the chocolate cartel played by Peep Show's Paterson Joseph, Ghosts' Mathew Baynton, and former Great British Baking Show co-host Matt Lucas.
That first teaser image may have made Chalamet fans presume this would be a edgy, dark reimagining. But Wonka's script was written by longtime collaborators Simon Farnaby and Paul King, with King directing, and a look at their previous work together will give you a clue as to what we can expect from Wonka. Farnaby, an actor who appears in King's directorial debut Bunny and the Bull, as well as Ghosts and other surreally funny Britcoms, co-wrote Paddington 2 script with King, who directed both the shockingly great Paddington and its equally delightful sequel. So, instead of some tedious grasp at playing a kids' movie as cool or leaning hard into nostalgia, these accomplished adapters of children's fare that plays well to all ages have embraced sincerity over cynicism, earnestness over cool. And Chalamet is trusting them, taking a leap like Daniel Radcliffe before him.
Chalamet goes the way of Daniel Radcliffe.
After the Harry Potter franchise, Radcliffe took serious roles on stage and screen, going nude for Equus and appearing in dramas like Kill Your Darlings and The Woman in Black. But Radcliffe upped his game when he threw caution to the wind and went sincere and weird with Swiss Army Man, the farting corpse jet-ski movie the Daniels made before their Best Picture-winning Everything Everywhere All At Once. Elsewhere, he's played parodies of himself on Extras and BoJack Horseman, gone gonzo in the brilliantly bonkers Weird: The Al Yankovic Story as the titular spoof-music megastar, and steadily become goofy as hell in the undersung and sensational Miracle Workers.
Whether Chalamet is looking to Radcliffe as a role model or not, his Wonka shows a similar promise. On Monday, what the world expected from Chalamet was great fashion, waifish sex appeal, and performances rife with indie-drama daring. Now, he's bucked off these chic shackles to show he can — or at least is not afraid to — try for more. Look at him! He seems elated to take on new roles and new range.
Will Wonka be good? I can't say from a two-minute trailer, though my faith in King tells me probably! Paddington 2 is an absolute gift to cinema — The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent got that right — and so my hopes here are sky-high. But that anticipation aside, Chalamet gives me cause for excitement. Even in these snippets, we get a sense of his facility for broad comedy, as he bounds about in sugar-fueled enthusiasm and pronounces to the world his honest intentions without fear of being mocked. What a wonderful place to operate from! What a lovely promise to make to an audience.
Here we go, mama, indeed.
Wonka hits theaters Dec. 15.
Topics Film
