The upcoming “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” prequel movie “Wonka” has been criticised for one very specific casting choice.
The fantasy comedy movie stars Timothée Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka in this prequel to the original 1971 feature adaptation of the Roald Dahl book about the world’s most famous and eccentic chocolatier.
The film, which is a part musical, also boasts a star-studded ensemble cast, including Keegan Michael-Key, Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins, Matt Lucas, Paterson Joseph, Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Grant.
It’s Grant’s casting as an Oompa-Loompa that has come under scrutiny from British actor George Coppen. Coppen, who has dwarfism, has appeared in films such as “Artemis Fowl” and “The School for Good and Evil”.
Speaking with The BBC, Coppen says the choice to cast Grant, a fully-statured actor, as the short-statured Oompa-Loompa is an issue:
“A lot of actors [with dwarfism] feel like we are being pushed out of the industry we love. A lot of people, myself included, argue that dwarfs should be offered everyday roles in dramas and soaps, but we aren’t getting offered those roles. One door is being closed, but they have forgotten to open the next one.”
Grant was revealed as an Oompa-Loompa in the trailer released the other week, and Coopen saw that depiction and says: “They’ve enlarged his head so his head looks bigger. [I thought] what the hell have you done to him?”.
The film actually marks the first time an actor without dwarfism has portrayed one of these characters has portrayed the Oompa-Loompas on screen. The 1971 film boasted multiple actors in the role, whilst Tim Burton’s 2005 film starred actor Deep Roy who played all the roles with the help of VFX.
“Wonka” is scheduled to be released in cinemas on December 15th.
