Timothée Chalamet Opens Up About WONKA, DUNE: ‘Coolest Job in the World’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Actor Timothee Chalamet recently opened up about his latest role in WONKA, how it feels to act in “enormous” DUNE scenes and why he has photos with a Paddington Bear doll.
Chalamet told BBC Radio 1 that the cane drop scene in WONKA “is way harder than it looks.”
“The full cane drop he does at the beginning of the film is insane when you think about physical mechanics…It required…a magnet on the bottom of the cane and then a magnet on the floor [because] he leaves it in place. And then the roll itself (a tilted drop to the floor that ends in a somersault) is nearly like, impossible to accomplish [and] actually getting the cane to stay. So we figured on the original they must have built, you know, a tiny hole in the ground or something…for Gene Wilder,” Chalamet said about the original movie CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
“I love musical theatre, and I love song and dance,” he told Games Radar. “And I love old Fred Astaire movies and the original CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY with Gene Wilder. I didn’t think I’d get a chance to do it, not like this. But Paul King is one of these directors that you don’t say no to.”
King, who knew of Chalamet’s background in musical theater, told BFI, “I think this movie allowed him to scratch an itch that he’s probably had for a long time.”
Chalamet had never acted in a movie as “light” as WONKA. He asked co-star Olivia Colman for some help to set the tone. He said, “I saw how much she was letting go,” and she “helped me tremendously.”
Colman and Chalamet’s efforts paid off. Movieguide®’s review of WONKA notes, “WONKA is a very fun, funny movie, one of the most entertaining movies of the year.”
The 27-year-old said he feels humbled to have the career that he does. Even when he suffers an injury on set, he hesitates to speak out or complain because of the largeness of his roles.
“On DUNE there were moments where the film was so enormous…humbling is too general word, I don’t know, it’s like beyond humbling,” he said about the science fiction movie. “It’s just…I feel like I got the coolest job in the world.”
Movieguide® said about DUNE:
DUNE is a powerful, exciting, satisfying epic. It’s worth seeing on a big screen. Even better, the movie has strong Christological themes, excellent dialogue and conservative statements about freedom and individualism. It affirms a father’s love and the importance of motherhood.
BBC Radio 1 interviewer Ali Plumb said to Chalamet, “I’ve got to ask about that photo, though, that was been going around of you with the with the Paddington doll.”
“That’s with Hideo Kojima who’s like, but of course the master of video games in Japan,” the actor explained. “And he’s an enormous Paddington fan…not only did [he take] that picture with the Paddington Bear, but he also had a Paddington briefcase that goes with the bear that he got Paul to sign.”
Timothée Chalamet and Paddington 🐻
📸: @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN pic.twitter.com/reltsRqbR2
— Letterboxd (@letterboxd) November 19, 2023
In addition to WONKA, Paul King directed other family movies like PADDINGTON 1 and 2.
PADDINGTON earned a +2 content rating from Movieguide®. Part of the review reads:
PADDINGTON is delightfully funny, winsome and absolutely charming. Its hero gets into all sorts of comical, and even exciting, predicaments. PADDINGTON has many heartwarming moments, with positive messages about caring for and protecting one’s family, being kind to strangers, and having polite manners. It does have three light profanities and scenes of jeopardy. Also, the villain is mean, and the family’s maid gets drunk in one scene. Otherwise, PADDINGTON is great wholesome fun.
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- Content: +1