Hugh Grant Hates Being An Oompa Loompa In Wonka
Roald Dahl’s beloved Willy Wonka character is being brought back to the screen once again in Wonka, and so are the Oompa Loompas. Specifically, Hugh Gran’ts Oompa Loompa named Lofty, whom Wonka meets in his early adventures as a chocolatier.
Unfortunately, Hugh Grant didn’t have the best time playing an Oompa Loompa because he had to use motion capture to play the character.
Hugh Grant’s Issues
Hugh Grant talked with Metro.co.uk and other outlets about his experience about the experience of having the motion capture apparatus capture his performance.
He said, “‘It was like a crown of thorns, very uncomfortable,” adding, “‘I made a big fuss about it,” and, “I couldn’t have hated the whole thing more.”
Hugh Grant also talked about how he didn’t really know if he should act with his body during the process and that his body performance ended up being replaced by animators regardless.
Was Hugh Grant Joking?
Jokingly, Hugh Grant dryly replied, “not really,” when asked if all the effort was worth it, causing his co-stars to have a good laugh about the whole thing.
Funnily enough, while reviews of Wonka have been positive overall, the Oompa Loompa storyline has been critiqued as a bit wonky and superfluous in the way it’s added into the story.
Grant may have been joking, but it might not have been worth it after all.
Wonka Cast
Hugh Grant is joined in Wonka by Timothee Chalamet as the titular character, who inherits the role from Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.
Along with Chalemet and Grant, Olivia Colman, Keegan Micheal-Key, Calah Lane, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, and Tom Davis also lead up the cast.
Rather than show us Willy Wonka as a bitter chocolatier looking for a replacement, this movie depicts his younger years and shows him trying to start up his chocolate business while contending with the greedy Chocolate Cartel.
Why Hugh Grant?
Paul King, known for Paddington and Paddington 2, definitely leaned into Hugh Grant’s sarcastic nature for the role, as he purposely landed on Hugh Grant when reviewing the source material.
As King revealed at the premiere, he found the Oompa Loompas in Roald Dahl’s book to be “incredibly sarcastic and judgemental and cruel,” and then joked, “So I was really just thinking about that character; somebody who could be a real s**t, and then — ah! Hugh!”
Of course, it wasn’t a complete annoyance for Hugh, who said he had fun messing around with the lines in the film.
CGI A Problem?
Of course, both Paul King and Hugh Grant are very familiar with CGI characters by now, as they worked together on the critically lauded films Paddington and Paddington 2.
With that being said, Grant didn’t have to do motion capture for that one, so he probably enjoyed making it a lot more. In either case, it certainly seems like Grant will need some convincing if they want to have him back for any Wonka sequels.
Wonka Coming To Theaters
You can find out for yourself if Hugh Grant’s motion capture efforts were worth it next week.
Wonka is set to hit theaters here in the US on December 15. Chalamet has been getting a lot of praise for his performance, so it should definitely be worth checking out for Wonka fans.
